EPA will scrutinize Sherco Power Plant as possible source of haze

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to consider whether pollution controls at Xcel Energy's Sherco power plant are adequate for preventing haze over Voyageurs National Park and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

The federal agency and several environmental groups have agreed on a proposed consent decree that obligates the EPA to take action on a finding from the National Park Service in 2009 that haze from the coal-fired Sherco plant impairs the views at Voyageurs and Isle Royale National Park.

The EPA would have to propose a plan by Feb. 27 and finalize it by August 2015.

Xcel disputes that Sherco contributes to the haze over the national parks and the BWCA.

The consent decree requires a public comment period before it goes to a federal judge for approval.