WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency on Monday denied a years-old petition by

energy industry groups who sought to get the agency to remove

limits on emissions of harmful pollutants from stationary

turbines, arguing that the risk causing cancer remains high.

The agency denied the joint petition filed in 2019 by groups

including American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the

American Petroleum Institute who asked to delist combustion

turbines from the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous

Pollutants (NESHAP), which imposes curbs on emissions of known

carcinogens like formaldehyde and benzene.

"Today's action will ensure people who live, work and play

near these facilities are protected from harmful air pollution,"

said EPA Administrator Michael Regan in a statement.

Gas-powered turbines emit formaldehyde and other dangerous

pollutants through a chemical transformation that occurs when

methane is superheated. Around 250 U.S. gas turbines had been

subject to the rule, according to an EPA list, which included

liquefied natural gas company Cheniere, as well as power

plant operators and other industrial facilities.

Cheniere had separately petitioned the EPA in 2022 to exempt

it from the NESHAP limits, arguing that complying with the rules

would jeopardize their gas exports to Europe at a time that EU

countries were seeking to source gas from outside of Russia,

which had just invaded Ukraine.

The petitioners argued that the turbines do not pose a less

than one in a million cancer threat but the EPA rejected their

petition, saying the petitioners did not present adequate

information and analyses.

The petitioners submitted additional information in November

2019, December 2020, and March 2021.

"While we are disappointed with this decision, we will

continue to work with the EPA to ensure any new or revised

emissions standards for combustion turbines are cost-effective

and technically feasible," said Scott Lauermann, a spokesperson

for the API.

Environmental groups in states in the southeast where

turbines are widely used said the denial will protect vulnerable

residents who live near these facilities.

"It is critically important that these turbines remain

covered by federal regulations which protect environmental

justice communities from dangerous air toxic emissions," said

Keri Powell of the Southern Environmental Law Center.