Human
error, equipment malfunction and failure to follow standard operating
procedures led to the breaches, according to an order from the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality.

“The
important thing to note is there was no safety risk,” said GenOn
spokeswoman Misty Allen. “There are things we need to make corrections
to and we are committed to doing so.”

DEQ
officials paid a surprise visit to the Royal Street plant last
September and found that the coal being used contained more ash than the
Virginia Air Pollution Control Law allows. The more ash coal contains,
the higher the potential for harmful, microscopic matter to escape the
power plant.

“It’s
the starting point for determining the quantity of the material that
can be emitted from the facility,” said Terry Darton, an air permit
manager with DEQ.

GenOn
used filters but violated their permit’s restrictions by using
unauthorized coal in the first place, according to the report.

“We
work with a fuel team and they’re responsible for finding coal that
works with our permit, and unfortunately we received coal that tested
above [the limit] and used it anyway,” Allen said. “That train should
not have been unloaded.”

The
riverfront generating station has had a target on its back for years.
Elected officials and nearby residents have made it clear GenOn is not
welcome, and the plant agreed to spend $34 million on environmental
improvements in 2008. The Sierra Club opened an office in Del Ray
specifically to shut down local coal-burning plants, including GenOn.

“In
each response to our campaign GenOn repeatedly claimed that they are in
compliance with state rules and regulations,” said Phillip Ellis, the
local Sierra Club field organizer. “This $275,000 enforcement action
proves otherwise.”

The
environmental organization submitted a 1,200-name petition to GenOn’s
vice president asking for a “retirement schedule” for the plant, Ellis
said.

The
DEQ also fined the plant for having a high emissions rate on June 28 of
last year, stemming from human error, according to the report. The
plant’s towers breached the permitted “opacity rate.” In other words,
the pollution was visible.

“[The
particulate matter] was exiting the stack and coming out faster than
what we were adjusting to capture the emissions,” Allen said. “Basically
… when it becomes visible, you’re at a point that you don’t want.”

GenOn, formerly Mirant, will revisit training manuals and techniques to protect against future violations, Allen said.

DEQ
officials discovered most of the violations by analyzing data submitted
by the plant, except for the one unannounced visit and an admitted
error on GenOn’s part.

The
payout is not a legal fine, but a “civil penalty” agreed upon by both
parties in light of the plant’s violations, officials said.

“We don’t tell them how to run their plant, we just tell them when we have issues we’re concerned about,” Darton said.

The City of Alexandria won’t see any of the money stemming from the penalty, officials said.