EPA says it should not be forced to further limit Xcel power plant emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that it should not be forced to further limit Xcel Energy's air emissions from a power plant in Sherburne County.

It's a response to a suit from environmental groups that want Xcel's Sherco plant cleaned up or closed down completely. The plant can burn up to three trainloads of coal a day. A National Park Service analysis three years ago found that the plant contributes to haze in Voyageurs National Park and Isle Royale.

The suit was filed against the Environmental Protection Agency in December to try to make the agency hold the plant to higher pollution-control standards.

In Friday's filing in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, the Environmental Protection Agency argued that it isn't required to regulate the facility due to the haze in the parks. The agency asked that the complaint be dismissed.

Xcel has said it is installing technology that will cut the facility's haze pollution in half.

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