TOPEKA — Westar Energy said it has signed a deal to settle a federal lawsuit over air pollution from the Jeffrey Energy Center west of Topeka. Westar president Bill Moore said the utility had been trying to improve the environmental performance its coal-fired power plants before the U.S. Department of Justice announced the lawsuit. Westar will install a new high-tech pollution control on one of the three coal units by the end of 2014, with the control installed on a second unit by the end of 2016. The utility will also install new burners and electrostatic scrubbers. Westar said it has agreed to pay a $3 million civil penalty as part of the settlement.
