Mohave power plant set to close

LAUGHLIN, Nev., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A coal-fired power plant that emitted vast quantities of air pollution that clouded views of the Grand Canyon will close at year's end.

The utility has confirmed a U.S. court ordered Mohave Generating Station near Laughlin, Nev., to shut down unless it upgraded its pollution controls by Jan. 1, reported the Los Angeles Times Friday.

Environmental groups had sued in 1999, alleging the plant repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act.

The 1,580-megawatt Mohave plant, which provided 7 percent of electricity to Southern California Edison, released an average of 19,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 2,000 tons of fine particles a year near Laughlin. That smog and soot pollution has contributed to the haze above Grand Canyon.

In a filing Thursday with the California Public Utilities Commission, Edison said it wanted to continue negotiations to keep the power plant open, to add pollution controls that are expected to cost $1 billion, but close for at least a few months.