EPA, TVA face off in federal court over pollution controls

ATLANTA - Lawyers for the Environmental Protection Agency say the Tennessee Valley Authority broke the law when it failed to install pollution control equipment at its older coal-burning power plants. <br> <br> The EPA asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday to uphold a federal order that TVA comply with tougher federal air pollution control requirements. <br> <br> The agency claims TVA violated the Clean Air Act for 20 years by making improvements at seven of its 11 coal-fired plants in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky without installing new pollution control equipment. <br> <br> TVA attorneys say the plants didn&#39;t ignore the law, they simply interpreted it differently. <br> <br> The three-judge panel is expected to rule this summer. Similar cases are pending against 12 other utilities in the South and Midwest, including Atlanta&#39;s Southern Company. A decision in TVA&#39;s favor could weaken those complaints.