Justice Department moves to block Energy Future bankruptcy over environmental liabilities

Source: Dallas Morning News

The Justice Department has accused Energy Future Holdings, the bankrupt Texas power company, of trying to skirt its environmental liabilities through the bankruptcy court.

In an objection filed in court this week, federal attorneys said in recent communications with the government the company had indicated that its new owners would be “granted a broad release from environmental liability” for contamination that took place prior to restructuring.

They described the request as akin to asking, “this court’s permission to expose the public to the serious risks posed by pollution and other environmental harms.”

More than a century old, the former TXU Corp.’s potential environmental risks are voluminous, from the millions of pounds of coal ash it disposes underground each year, to the coal mine it operates in Freestone County, to the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant.

Read more: http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/08/justice-department-moves-to-block-energy-future-bankruptcy-over-environmental-liabilities.html/