EPA Oks rules to reduce Nevada coal plant haze

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved rules to reduce emissions from a coal-fired power plant outside Las Vegas, despite calls by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to shut it down.

The rules announced this week for NV Energy’s Reid Gardner generating plant are designed to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and fine particle air pollution that are blamed for regional haze.

EPA officials say the steps will improve visibility at five national parks and wilderness areas, including the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Zion national parks.

Speaking at a clean energy summit last week in Las Vegas, Reid said the plant should be closed. He called the facility antiquated and a health risk to American Indians who live nearby.

The plant has operated since the 1960s.