Sierra Club de Puerto Rico and other environmental groups could not persuade a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that their challenge to a Clean Air Act (CAA) rule the EPA promulgated in 1980 was timely. According to the groups, that rule provided an illegal definition of any air pollutant in the context of Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) permitting. The groups’ petition to the court was one element of their battle to prevent construction of a waste-to-energy incinerator Energy Answers Arecibo, LLC, is constructing in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
 |
Energy Answers’ facility was designed to process approximately 2,100 tons of municipal waste per day and generate a net capacity of 67 megawatts (MW). According to Energy Answers, the project will help address the loss of landfill space in Puerto Rico and increase recycling.
The petitioners have been fighting to stop the project, which they argue will be built in a poverty-stricken area already suffering from the effects of air pollution.