The Albany Times Union notes that a recent large-scale settlement with the nation's largest utility company will provide significant improvements in New York acid rain problem in the Catskills and Adirondacks.

The lawsuit was brought by a number of states, the Environmental Protection Agency and environmental advocates against American Electric Power for the large quantities of sulphur and nitrogen that the company released into the air. Scientists have identified 75 coal-burning power plants as the source of 85 percent of the Adirondacks' acid rain. Forty-six of those plants are owned by AEP and are covered in the settlement.

AEP is required to pay a $15 million fine and $60 million for mitigation projects,and the company will have a decade to reduce emissions by around 70 percent.