WASHINGTON -- A big power company accused of spreading smog and acid rain across a dozen states agreed Tuesday to pay at least $4.6 billion to cut chemical emissions in what the government called the nation's largest environmental settlement.
The agreement with American Electric Power Co. ends an eight-year legal battle over reducing smokestack pollution that drifted across Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, chewing away at mountain ranges, bays and national landmarks.
AEP, based on Columbus, Ohio, maintains it never violated Clean Air Act rules to curb emissions, and had already spent or planned to pay $5.1 billion on scrubbers and other equipment to reduce its pollution.
"Plans change," said acting Assistant Attorney General Ron Tenpas, announcing the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus, where a trial against AEP originally was scheduled to begin Tuesday. "And obviously there is a big difference between a company saying it has plans to do something in the future and a company being bound by an order of the court to take those steps."
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