The Albany Times Union [1] 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 [2] 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.