Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan., document details possible clean-air violations

 At least 15 projects and upgrades at power plants operated by the Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan., may have violated federal clean air laws, according to a confidential BPU document.

  Karen Dillon  -- Kansas City Star

  Mar. 2, 2007 -- At least 15 projects and upgrades at power plants operated by the Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan., may have violated federal clean air laws, according to a confidential BPU document.

  The document, obtained from an anonymous source by The Kansas City Star, was prepared in 2004 by an attorney to lay out the odds for the BPU of the risks of penalties by the Environmental Protection Agency. It examined 73 projects that may not have followed regulations.

  Of those, 15 were “probably not defensible” and another 15 were “questionable,” it said.

  The document, which calls itself a “liability analysis,” says that the utility could be subject to thousands of dollars in fines. It also says the BPU has the choice of approaching the EPA to reach a settlement or waiting for the EPA to initiate action.

  It is unclear which course the BPU took.

  EPA and Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials said they did not know anything about possibleviolations. BPU officials could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

| Karen Dillon, [email protected]

LINK: Kansas City Star