Proposed pollution controls for a coal-fired power plant in southern Nevada do not go far enough to protect the health of area residents, tribal members who live in the shadow of the plant told U.S. EPA officials at a pair of hearings held on the Paiute Indian reservation yesterday.

The 557-megawatt Reid Gardner coal plant, which lies on land next to the reservation, provides electricity for 335,000 homes in Las Vegas, about 50 miles away. It emits more than 4,000 tons of nitrogen oxide pollution each year, which combines with other compounds to form ground-level ozone, or smog. The plant's emissions, which also include soot, are responsible for $28 million in annual public health costs, according to the Clean Air Task Force. The pollution created by the plant also clouds the view at the Grand Canyon and Zion national parks, which are designated as "Class I" airsheds under the Clean Air Act -- the most protective classification.

The agency is considering a proposal requiring new controls for the 47-year-old Reid Gardner plant that would improve visibility, but the Moapa Paiutes, along with the Sierra Club, say the plan is inadequate.

The plant, owned by NV Energy, is located within a few hundred yards of homes on the reservation of the Moapa band of the Paiute tribe, and residents are concerned that without tighter controls, they will continue to see adverse health effects.

At yesterday's hearings, tribal members told EPA officials they have been suffering from ailments including heart disease, respiratory problems, asthma and thyroid problems that they blame on the pollution emanating from the plant.

"It's the Environmental Protection Agency," said William Anderson, chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, in an interview after the first hearing. "The government is supposed to take care of us."

Tribal members and other critics urged EPA to retool the proposal to require the plant to install "selective catalytic reduction" technology, which in their view is the best available option to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act. Selective catalytic reduction controls are in use on more than 200 coal plant units around the country and can cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent, according to the groups.

But Margot Perez-Sullivan, a spokeswoman for EPA, said that technology would not achieve the desired results.

"Based on information the agency studied, more stringent controls would not result in enough visibility improvements," she said.

Anderson said he felt that he and the other tribal members who shared their thoughts on the proposal were heard by EPA officials at the hearing.

"It was a great opportunity to share our concerns," he said.

The hearing came on the heels of the Paiutes' recent "Power Without Pollution" Cultural Healing Walk, a 50-mile trek from their reservation near Moapa that ended in an Earth Day rally in Las Vegas.

The proposed retrofits to the plant are the final step in Nevada's regional haze implementation plan, published in the Federal Register on March 26.

NV Energy notes that it has taken several steps to reduce its emissions. For instance, it has installed pollution controls that capture almost all the plant's particulate emissions, and the company's landfill lining system, designed to prevent leakage of contaminants in coal ash, exceeds federal and state requirements, according to the company.

Last fall, the tribe and the Sierra Club filed suit over a proposed expansion of the landfill (Greenwire, Oct. 11, 2011). Anderson said that if EPA does not require the most protective controls for the plant, he and other tribal members will not give up on forcing the plant to reduce its emissions.

"We'll continue to fight," he said. "We'll continue on until we get something accomplished until we have a safer community here."

In the meantime, the tribe is developing two solar facilities to bring clean energy to the area, Anderson added.

EPA is accepting comments on the proposal until June 4.

Reese writes from Santa Fe, N.M.