The Washington State Department of Ecology has taken issue with claims by environmental groups that a state deal with TransAlta to cut mercury and nitrogen oxide emissions at its coal-fired power plant north of Centralia is not strong enough and provides loopholes for the state’s largest polluter.

    The Sierra Club was among three groups to call the agreement — reached in closed-door discussions between the Office of Gov. Chris Gregoire, Ecology and TransAlta — inadequate earlier this week.

    In the release, the environmental group wrote that “another chapter has been written in the history of sweetheart deals between Washington government officials and operators of the state’s worst pollution source. Gov. Chris Gregoire and her Department of Ecology have proposed totally inadequate protections for our children and public places against the grave threats posed by TransAlta’s dirty coal plant.”

    Ecology announced plans for a 60-day comment period Tuesday that will include a public meeting Oct. 13 in Lacey. Manning said in the release that Ecology is seeking a 20 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions within the next month, a 50 percent reduction in mercury emissions by 2012, and a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.

    “The organizations have every right to criticize or oppose the agreement, but the statement they issued was so riddled with factual inaccuracies that a response is necessary,” Manning said in the release. “Here we set the record straight on the proposed agreement. We look forward to a robust, fact-based and interactive public review process.”

    The TransAlta Centralia Steam-Electric Steam Plant is the only coal-fired power plant in the state. The facility has come under heavy criticism from Sierra Club and other organizations in the past year, with a representative of the organization calling for the end of tax credits for the plant at a Legislative hearing in Olympia earlier this year.

    In its release, the Sierra Club said that greenhouse gasses were not included in the requested reductions, a claim Ecology disputes.

    “Not including global warming pollution in this public comment period is short-sighted and unfair to the people of Washington,” Greenpeace Northwest Organizer Sofia Gidlund said in a release.

    Ecology countered that Gov. Gregoire’s executive order implemented earlier this year addressed greenhouse gasses and called for reductions by 2025.

    “By meeting this standard, TransAlta will achieve a 50 percent reduction in (greenhouse gas) emissions,” the release stated. “This betters by 25 years the statutory requirement established in 2008 of a 50 percent reduction by 2050.”

    The two sides will likely next meet at the public hearing scheduled for Oct. 13 in Lacey. The hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Ecology headquarters, located at 300 Desmond Drive in Lacey.

    Eric Schwartz: (360) 807-8245