Latest news with #EntergyArkansas
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Entergy Arkansas certifies two Stuttgart industrial sites for economic development
STUTTGART, Ark. — Officials announced that two sites in the Stuttgart Industrial Park have received Select Site certification from Entergy Arkansas. The Select Site initiative is a development program by Entergy Arkansas that helps communities prepare shovel-ready sites to attract industrial and commercial projects. A spokesperson announced that both selected sites are located in the Stuttgart Industrial Park along U.S. Highway 79. One site is 154-acre and the other is 62-acre. Little Rock Zoo breaks ground on major expansion, bringing new exhibits and more family fun Bethany Hildebrand, president and CEO of the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce, said the recognition follows two years of infrastructure improvements supported by federal and state grants. A grant was provided by Entergy Arkansas to help offset some of the costs associated with the certifications, officials said. Hot Springs looks toward new beginnings with demolition of former high school 'Certifying a site is not an easy or quick task and certifying two at the same time is an even bigger challenge,' said Entergy Arkansas Vice President of Business and Economic Development Danny Games. 'Accomplishing these certifications ensures that Stuttgart has timely information on hand to satisfy site location consultants and prospective company inquiries. We are pleased to recognize Stuttgart for achieving this milestone and look forward to featuring the Stuttgart Industrial Park Select Sites on our website and promoting them as our newest certified sites.' For more information, visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Two Arkansas coal-fired plants win exemptions for monitoring toxic air particles
Entergy Arkansas' White Bluff power plant near Redfield is one of two generating stations in the state to be granted exemptions to a new air toxics emission standard. (Source: Entergy Arkansas) Two coal-fired power plants in Arkansas are exempt from revised air pollution rules under a Trump administration rollback of environmental standards adopted last year, leaving some former EPA officials and environment groups concerned about prolonged exposure to unhealthy emissions. The exemptions will last for two years, long enough to keep one plant already slated for closure from having to install equipment required by the new rules. As part of its deregulation efforts, the Trump administration put out a call earlier this year for companies to request exemptions to several environmental rules finalized in Biden's last year in office. The Clean Air Act allows the president to exempt pollution sources from compliance with any part of section 112 of the CAA if 'the technology to implement the standard is not available and it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.' Entergy Arkansas' White Bluff 1 power station near Redfield and the Plum Point Energy Station near Osceola, which is owned by a consortium of utility companies, applied for the exemption. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Had President Donald Trump not directed the Environmental Protection Agency to provide the exemptions, the plants would have been required to install continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) to measure the amounts of particulates released into the air. The plants also would have been subject to stricter regulations for how much particulate matter they could release through their stacks. Instead, the plants will only be subject to the version of the rule prior to the 2024 revisions. The plants now have until 2029 to comply with the requirements finalized last year — that is, if they remain in effect. The Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) rule is one of more than two dozen environmental and pollution regulations being targeted for rollbacks by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. In a statement announcing the deregulation targets in March, Zeldin said the move was a push back against 'destruction and destitution' caused by EPA rules enacted in the previous administration. The White Bluff plant is scheduled to be shut down in 2028, an Entergy Arkansas spokesperson said. 'White Bluff 1 is the only affected unit in Arkansas that may require the installation of additional equipment to meet new MATS requirements coming into effect in 2027, and that same unit is also subject to a requirement to cease burning coal at the end of 2028 under a consent decree,' Matt Ramsey said in an emailed statement. 'This exemption will avoid the need to make additional MATS-related investments that increase costs to our customers so close to the cessation of coal date. 'White Bluff 1 will continue to operate under the current MATS standards, which the EPA has determined to be protective of public health with an adequate margin of safety,' Ramsey added. The MATS rule was first issued in 2012 to reduce the amount of mercury and other toxics being emitted by coal power plants. Those rules were revised in 2024, during the final months of the Biden administration, requiring all facilities subject to the rule to install CEMS monitoring while tightening the amount of 'filterable particulate matter' that a coal power plant could emit. The revised requirements slashed the amount of particulate matter a coal plant could emit by two-thirds. A fact sheet issued by the EPA last year said that 93% of existing coal plants that were not already set to close already met the revised particulate matter standard. Particulate matter is used as a surrogate for emissions of mercury, a heavy metal, and other pollutants designated as air toxics under the federal Clean Air Act. Heavy metals can be toxic to humans, and inhaling them can lead to respiratory issues such as asthma. 'Fine particulate matter in the rule and in the science is a proxy for these heavy metals,' explained Sierra Club attorney Tony Mendoza. 'So if you're limiting fine particulate matter to a certain level, EPA found you're reducing your emissions of mercury and arsenic and nickel.' Mendoza said he had been surprised that the Plum Point and White Bluff facilities had requested exemptions, saying that documentation put forth by the EPA during the rulemaking process led them to believe it would not be difficult for either plant to comply with the revised rule. 'It seems that they should have been able to comply and there is some non-public reason why they're seeking that exemption,' Mendoza said. 'We were frankly a little surprised to see them on that list.' The chair of the Sierra Club's Arkansas chapter expressed frustration and concern over the Trump administration's move. The Sierra Club was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that resulted in the consent decree that requires Entergy to shut down White Bluff and its Independence coal plant within the next ten years. 'Environmental issues tend to work kind of like co-morbidities, where air quality issues on their own might not be causing huge issues for the average Arkansan,' Erica Kriner said, 'but then you add poor drinking water from hog farms disposing waste into the Buffalo River; then you add an uptick of diseases that threaten agriculture; and suddenly all of these issues start to snowball with each other.' Kriner said it was important that Arkansas communities understand the 'larger context' of what these actions can mean. She compared the attempts to roll back regulations to a car in need of repair — perhaps it could continue to run at first, but it would eventually stop working. 'Chipping away at our clean air protections may not feel like it will lead to dire consequences, but the Trump administration, the [Sarah] Huckabee Sanders administration, they rely on people not understanding the long-term consequences of dismantling these regulations,' Kriner said. The exemption from complying with the revised rule was particularly concerning for Joe Goffman, who oversaw the 2024 revisions as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency's air office during the Biden administration and helped author the section of the Clean Air Act that gave the EPA the authority to regulate so-called 'air toxics,' such as mercury, in 1990. Goffman said the MATS rule exemptions for coal-powered plants would allow these facilities to continue using less frequent testing to demonstrate compliance with the pre-2024 version of the standards, which they are still subject to, if they had not already begun using CEMS. Goffman said this leaves room for inaccuracies and potentially even manipulation. 'I can say from my many decades of experience in this area — if there was one pollutant' that Congress decided to regulate, 'the pollutant to target is PM [particulate matter], because that's the most dangerous pollutant that makes people sick,' Goffman said. That's because harmful substances – like mercury – 'ride' on fine particles. 'A lot of these substances are carried by fine particles,' Goffman said. 'In other words, you don't have these free floating nickel molecules or other heavy metal molecules. They ride on fine particles. That's what makes them particularly lethal.' Without a CEMS monitoring mandate for all coal plants, Goffman said, there could be 'a lot' of particulate matter that is being emitted that isn't necessarily reflected in reporting. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Entergy, Port of Little Rock announce ‘shovel ready' 875-acre industrial megasite
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Officials said Friday a joint development at the Port of Little Rock will make the area more attractive to industry. A joint announcement between Entergy Arkansas and Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce officials said an 875-acre industrial megasite has received Select Site certification. Officials said a Select Site provides shovel-ready sites meeting predetermined criteria to satisfy requirements by consultants and companies. Port of Little Rock officials say potential international tariffs could have big impact on Arkansas The area is located in the southwest section of the port. President and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber Jay Chesshir said the program was initiated with help from Rep. French Hill (AR-2nd District) in 2016 by meeting with Federal Aviation Administration officials to have a VOR navigation antenna moved. 'In 2016, I called Rep. French Hill requesting help in scheduling a meeting with the FAA to discuss relocating the VOR Cone at the Little Rock Port,' Chesshir said. 'As a past Chairman of the Little Rock Regional Chamber, Rep. Hill understood it was essential to the future economic growth of the central Arkansas region.' Port of Little Rock gets $500,000 for infrastructure improvements Chesshir said that the initial meeting led to a process ending with the Friday announcement. 'That was the first step in a decade-long journey in partnership with Bryan Day and the Little Rock Port Authority to study this site, acquire the property, build the infrastructure, and take the site to market, which we are officially doing today [Friday],' he said. 'Thanks to unprecedented investment from Mayor Scott and the Little Rock City Board of Directors, with infrastructure support from Judge Barry Hyde and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, this is the largest certified industrial site in central Arkansas and is well-suited for a large manufacturer who needs access to interstates, rail and port facilities, plus adjacent land for suppliers,' Chesshir added. European production company announces move into the Port of Little Rock, 500 jobs, $100 million investment Additional information on the Select Site program, including other Select Site locations in Arkansas, can be found at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
