Mirant Kendall, LLC, Kendall Cogeneration Station (Board decision, January 26, 2011)

Plain-English summary

EPA Region 1 issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit regulating discharges from the Kendall Cogeneration Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The permit included thermal discharge limits under Clean Water Act section 316(a) and cooling water intake structure requirements under section 316(b). The petitioners challenged parts of the permit in three appeals, then sought dismissal after settlement negotiations and several permit modifications produced terms acceptable to all parties. The Environmental Appeals Board dismissed all three petitions for review with prejudice. The order does not state a penalty.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authorities: 33 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and § 1326(b)
• Outcome: NPDES Appeal Nos. 06-12, 06-13, and 09-04 were dismissed with prejudice.
• Key point: After the parties agreed on modified permit terms, the Board ended the three pending challenges by dismissing them with prejudice.

Full text (EPA EAB public release)

             BEFORE THE ENVIRONMENTAL APPEALS BO
         UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
                         WASHINGTON, D.C.                                                2 6 2011
                                                  )                           Clerk, Envjronmel\tal~BDard

In re: INITIALS ...
)
)
Mirant Kendall, LLC ) NPDES Appeal Nos. 06-12,
Kendall Cogeneration Station ) 06-13, and 09-04
)
NPDES Permit No. MA0004898 )
------------------------------)
ORDER DISMISSING PETITIONS FOR REVIEW

     On January 25,2011, all parties to the above-captioned appeals - GenOn Kendall, LLC

(formerly Mirant Kendall, LLC), Conservation Law Foundation, Charles River Watershed

Association, and Region 1 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency - filed motions

for leave to withdraw their petitions for review ofNPDES Permit No. MA0004898, and/or

motions for expedited dismissal of those same petitions. The parties report that they assent to

each others' motions. They seek expedited dismissal of the petitions so that all provisions of

Permit No. MA0004898 can go into effect on Tuesday, February 1,2011.

     These proceedings began in late 2006, after EPA Region 1 issued a new permit regulating

discharges into the Charles River from the Kendall Cogeneration Station in Cambridge,

Massachusetts. The permit contained thermal discharge limits imposed under section 316(a) of

the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1326(a), and cooling water intake structure requirements

imposed under section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1326(b). The petitioners filed

appeals with the Environmental Appeals Board objecting to various elements of these permit

conditions, and now, after years of settlement negotiations and several rounds of permit

modifications, the parties have finally agreed to permit terms that are acceptable to all.
 For good cause shown, the three pending petitions for review ofNPDES Permit

No. MA0004898 are hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

   So ordered.


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                                        -2-

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

   I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing Order Dismissing Petitions for Review in

the matter of Mirant Kendall, LLC, Kendall Cogeneration Station, NPDES Appeal Nos. 06-12,
06-13, and 09-04, were sent to the following persons in the manner indicated:

By Facsimile and First Class U.S. Mail:

     Peter Shelley, Esq.                              Kristy A. Bulleit, Esq.
     Conservation Law Foundation                      Hunton & Williams, LLP
     62 Summer Street                                 1900 K Street, N.W.
     Boston, Massachusetts 02110                      Washington, D.C. 20006-1109
     telephone:     (617) 350-0990                    telephone:     (202) 955-1547
     facsimile:     (617) 350-4030                    facsimile:     (202) 778-2201

     Ralph A. Child, Breton Leone-Quick, and Colin Van Dyke, Esqs.
     Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, PC
     One Financial Center
     Boston, Massachusetts 02111
     telephone:    (617) 542-6000
     facsimile:    (617) 542-2241

By Facsimile and EPA Pouch Mail:

     Ronald A. Fein, Esq.
     Assistant Regional Counsel
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1
     5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
     Mailcode ORA18-1
     Boston, Massachusetts 02109-3912
     telephone:     (617) 918-1040
     facsimile:     (617) 918-0040

By EPA Interoffice Mail:

     Richard T. Witt, Esq.
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
     Office of General Counsel
     1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
     Mail Code 2355A
     Washington, D.C. 20460

Dated: 'JAN 26 1011
Annette Duncan
Secretary