Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Wallingford power plant owner Coventa Energy over the emissions levels at its trash-to-energy plant.
For the second time in three years, Coventa’s plant emitted excessive levels of the carcinogen chemical dioxin, leading Blumenthal to file the suit. The company shut down the faulty unit that was causing the problems, but Blumenthal is suing so there are no future violations.
Coventa admitted to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection that a malfunction of its emission control systems in April led to double the allotted amount of carbon dioxin emitted from one of its units until it was shut down on July 2.
The DEP issued a notice of violation on July 29 because of the emissions. This came after Coventa paid a $355,000 settlement in November 2009 for another emissions problem.
A Connecticut Department of Public Health review concluded the amount of dioxin released during the violation did not exceed health standards.
