Companies doubt effect of pollution rules

MUNSTER, Ind. -- New pollution-control rules have provoked a flurry of criticism from environmentalists, but some companies in northwest Indiana doubt whether the changes will affect their operations.\nThe rules, announced last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will require older industries to install modern pollution-control devices when they upgrade certain equipment.\nBut factories can avoid installing new controls if their upgrades cost less than 20 percent of the replacement cost of the main production equipment, such as generators, turbines and furnaces.\nSince that equipment can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, many companies will be able to make extensive changes without improving pollution controls.\nEnvironmentalists doubt whether the rules will reduce harmful emissions.\n"This is no favor to the public," said Grant Smith, utilities policy coordinator at Indiana's Citizens Action Coalition. "What this will do is allow older plants to keep operating. These plants, compared with modern, natural gas-powered generators, emit 10 times more pollution."\nThe new rules will have little or no effect on Northern Indiana Public Service Co. because it soon will be using new pollution-control devices at all its facilities, NIPSCO spokesman Larry Graham said.\n"Every one of our stations has sulfur dioxide scrubbers to clean the sulfur dioxide out of emissions, or uses low-sulfur coal,"Graham told The Times for a story published Tuesday.\nNIPSCO, a subsidiary of Merrillville-based NiSource Inc., provides electricity to about 430,000 customers, most in northern Indiana.\nSulfur-control measures cost the company $250 million. It will spend $234 million over the next three years to reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions.\nOnce those upgrades are complete, Graham said, the utility will be in compliance with all environmental regulations and not subject to the new rules.\nNIPSCO's environmental upgrades were required under the Clean Air Act because the company's power plants are located in an area of high air pollution.\nMike Dixon, a spokesman for U.S. Steel, said the revamped rules will not affect furnaces used in steel production. But they may reduce bureaucracy for some minor improvement projects.\n"It's not changing the standards that companies have to comply with," he said. "It just basically saves some paperwork along the way"