The Department of Administration said it would reduce coal use, use cleaner alternative fuels or otherwise limit emissions at plants that heat UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-River Falls and Mendota Mental Health Institute.
The acknowledgment means at least eight state-run plants have violated the Clean Air Act in recent years. The administration said it would study five more plants to determine whether they also were in noncompliance.
The DOA had hired a consultant in 2008 to review whether the plants were in compliance in the federal act as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club environmental group. The consultant's report, made public last year, found they all were in compliance and did not require stricter pollution controls.
The Sierra Club disagreed with the findings. After months of studying the issue, the Department of Natural Resources largely sided with group Friday, telling the administration they needed to receive permits to continue operating the five plants but in a cleaner way.
The DNR also said five more plants - those at UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout, UW-Superior and Winnebago Mental Health Institute
- need further study to determine whether they are violating the act's requirements.
Administration Secretary Michael Morgan said he accepted the DNR's analysis as the state's air regulator and promised to work with the agency to address the problems.
"We will either eliminate the use of coal, reduce the use of coal by using alternative fuels and natural gas, or greatly reduce emissions" at the plants, he said in a phone interview. He declined to estimate how much the fixes might cost, but said: "It's fair to say we are going to have to make an investment as we move forward in reducing the use of coal in the state of Wisconsin."
The state already is spending $251 million to convert a coal-fired plant that powers UW-Madison to run on natural gas and biomass after a federal judge agreed with the Sierra Club it had violated the Clean Air Act.
The Sierra Club's lawsuit had questioned whether numerous other plants were violating the act because managers did not obtain permits when they went through major construction and maintenance projects as required. Such permits are designed to cut pollution by making sure operators use the best available technology.
