Get the FACTS about Coal Burning Power Plants!
One’s proposed for Early County ………
Details to date:
L. S. Power based in East Brunswick, New Jersey has an option on approximately 1986 acres to build a 500 to 1100 megawatt coal burning power plant in Early County. The proposed site is on the Chattahoochee River approximately 3 miles South of the Columbia Lock and Dam. Construction of the plant is planned to start in 2007 with commercial operations beginning in 2010.
Permits through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) are the primary requirements needed for such a coal burning plant to start construction.
The development and permitting phase of the coal burning plant is being overseen by LS Power Development, LLC based in St. Louis, Missouri.
LS Power ,the Early County Commissioners, and Development Authority want you to focus solely on the economic benefits of the proposal. In fact, both groups drafted a resolution to back the L.S. Power project before any information was gathered on coal fired power plants. A "Task Force" was formed to investigate the issue and report back to the County Commissioners .After two months, the Task Force has met twice. At the initial meeting , in which many of the Task Force members were not present, L.S. Power officials addressed the group .The second meeting ,in which many of the Task Force members again were not present , was a visit to Georgia Pacific, where the group toured GP's small coal fired generating plant. GP is currently L.S. Power's project partner. .
Fact: Power Plants (coal burning in particular) are the largest single source of harmful air pollution, acid deposition and greenhouse gas emissions in the country. Because they emit some of our Nation’s worst air pollutants, power plants pose a serious threat to the health of people, wildlife, livestock, and our environment. - source: Environmental Protection Agency; National Wildlife Federation
Fact: Georgia at present has 29 power plants that have been permitted or are in the process of being permitted. source: Georgia Center For Law in the Public Interest
Fact: The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has publicly stated their concern on the adverse impacts that these plants will have on their state’s air quality. Furthermore, comments have been made that computer-modeling efforts on air quality impacts have a wide margin of error, and that all the answers won’t be known until the plants begin operating.
- source: “Plants Could Bring More than Revenue” by Chip Minty. The Daily Oklahoman. 2/18/01
- source: “Air Quality Could Take Turn for Worse with Construction of Power Plants” Associated Press – Oklahoma City; http://ktul.com/news/news/asp?ID=325 posted 2/17/01
Fact: It takes many years for ecosystems to recover from acid deposition, even after emissions are reduced and the rain becomes normal again. Chronically acidified lakes, streams, forests, and soils can take years, decades or even centuries (in the case of soils) to heal. – source: Environmental Protection Agency
Fact:
“Both the construction of a new coal-fired power plant and the release of Mercury into the environment have characteristics of irreversibility.” – source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Proceedings for Quantification of Environmental Costs MPUC Docket No. E-999/CI-93-583
Prevention is Key! The time to limit the influx of power plants into our state is NOW! Guidelines must be established as to 1) the number of power plants our natural resources can support, and 2) how far power plants can be built from other power plants, our homes, and our children’s play areas.
Health Issues:
Food for Thought: You do have to worry about the power plant. Even if it is not in your backyard!
Fact: Impacts from power plant emissions can occur miles from the site due to the tall stacks. If the Early County plant is constructed, there will be 1 coal burning power plant , one coal-fired paper plant (Georgia Pacific, Cedar Springs), and 3 natural gas power plants (proposed for Houston and Dale County, Alabama) - all within a 20-mile radius of Early County.
Fact: Any impacts coming from tall stacks at high temperatures occur at a distance from the facility. The exact distance depends on stack height, emissions temperature and speed, meteorological conditions, and terrain.
- source: Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
Fact: The damage caused by acid rain is not localized in the place where it is created. The atmospheric emissions may travel for several days and over long distances depending upon wind and climatic conditions before coming down as acid rain. The problem caused in an industrialized area may therefore result in acid rain in the surrounding forests or lakes, or even further away.
– source: “Acid Rain’s Effect on Plants and Wildlife” http://ks.essortment.com/acidraineffect_rqmz.htm
Fact: Pollutants moving through the atmosphere don’t stop when they reach the borders between states. They float wherever the wind carries them. This makes them very difficult to control. – source: Glencoe Earth Science Textbook, pg. 560. Oklahoma State Mandated Science Book for Oklahoma Public Schools.
Fact: According to ABCnews.go.com, even our National Parks recorded 209 days (1999) when their air quality violated the federal standard for ozone caused by smog blown hundreds of miles from tall smokestacks. “This is a very major problem for us,” said Chris Shaver, National Park Service Chief of the Air Resources Division. - source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/dailynews/parks_smog191222.html
Fact: Historically, management of air pollutants has been addressed at the local level within non-attainment (poor air quality) areas. The local level approach has begun to change as research has demonstrated that ozone, fine particulate matter, and the compounds that lead to their formation can be transported over long distances. - source: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/Reports/fy2000.htm
Food for Thought: Power Plant emissions do pose a health risk.
Fact: Power Plant Pollution Shortens the Lives of Over 30,000 Americans each year.
- source: http://pirg.org/reports/enviro/dirty_power/pressrel.html
- source: http://archive.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/dailynews/powerplants-001017.htmb
Fact: High levels of air pollution can trigger heart attacks in at-risk people exposed for even a short time.
- source: Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Associated Press. 6/11/01
Fact: The primary pollutants from power plants are sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2), and Mercury (Hg). These pollutants have been linked to serious public health threats including asthma attacks, cancer, premature death, and neurological damage.
-source: Clean Air Network. Fast Facts on Power Plants. April 2000. www.cleanair.net
Fact: Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is the primary component of fine particulate matter pollution in the eastern half of the country. Power Plants are responsible for over 64% of the annual SO2 emissions. These fine particles can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs than larger particles, and are linked with respiratory disease and premature death. Particulate pollution cuts short the lives of an estimated
45,000 Americans each year. – source: Clear the Air Consortium
Fact: Power plants are accountable for over 26% Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emitted in the U.S. During 1999, the health standard for smog (of which NOx is a primary component) was exceeded more than 7,694 times in 43 states and the District of Columbia. Smog and fine particle pollution have a particularly devastating impact on our nations’ 14.9 million asthma’s sufferers; one out of every three asthma victims being a child. In 1997, in the eastern U.S. alone, ozone/smog triggered over 6 million asthma attacks and sent almost 160,000 people to the emergency room. – source: Clear the Air Consortium
Fact: Health effects of breathing particulate matter (PM) include effects on breathing and respiratory symptoms, aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, alterations in the body’s defense systems against foreign materials, damage to lung tissue, carcinogenesis, and premature death. Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary or cardiovascular disease, influenza, asthmatics, the elderly, and children are highly susceptible to the effects of PM. – source: Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Particulate Matter Fact Sheet.
Fact: Not as well known are the releases from coal combustion containing naturally occurring radioactive materials – mainly, uranium and thorium. – source: Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger, by Alex Gaggard.
Food for Thought: Mercury is a dangerous power plant pollutant threatening people, wildlife, and livestock.
Fact: Mercury emissions from power plants pose “significant health risks” and must be reduced, this according to Carol Browner, former EPA Administrator. “Mercury from power plants settles over waterways, polluting rivers and lakes and contaminating fish.” “The greatest source of mercury emissions is power plants, and they have never been required to control these emissions before now.”- source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters Press Release 12/14/00- source: EPA Regulatory Finding on the Emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Electric Utility Steam Generating Units. (AD-FRL-6919-6) 2060-ZA10
Fact: Exposure to mercury has been associated with both neurological and developmental damage in humans. The developing fetus is the most sensitive to mercury’s effects, which include damage to nervous system development. People are exposed to mercury primarily through eating fish that have been contaminated when mercury from power plants and other sources is deposited to water bodies. - source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Headquarters Press Release 12/14/00
Fact: The National Academy of Sciences found mercury exposure in utero may cause about 60,000 U.S. children to be born each year with neurological problems that could lead to poor school performance. -source: Reducing Mercury Emissions by 95 percent is Critical to Protecting Maternal and Child Health. Environmental Working Group.
Fact: Three quarters of all mercury deposition result from anthropogenic (man made) sources. A typical 500-megawatt coal-fired generator emits approximately 500 lbs. of mercury per year. - source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Proceedings for Quantification of Environmental Costs MPUC Docket No. E-999/CI-93-583.
L.S. Power is proposing to build a 500 – 1100 megawatt plant. - source: Early County News
Food for Thought: Mercury contamination of fish is a very real issue and is linked to coal burning power plants.
Fact: Electric Plants that burn coal are the single largest source of mercury pollution in the U.S. and are responsible for 33% of the total Mercury emissions from all sources. To put this into perspective, just 1/70th of a teaspoon can contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point where fish are unsafe to eat. Currently, fish in more than 50,000 water bodies in 40 states contain such high levels of mercury that health agencies have warned people against eating them. – source: The Toll from Coal: Dirty Power Threatens Our Environment. National Wildlife Federation. www.nwf.org
Fact: Oklahoma had one, Texas seven (with a statewide coastal advisory) and Arkansas 22 fish advisories for mercury between 1998 and 2000.
- source: Mercury Update: Impact on Fish Advisories. EPA-823-F-99-016. September 1999.
www.epa.gov/ost/fish/mercury.html
Food for Thought: Mercury and other particulate matter may pose a health risk to our livestock particularly racehorses.
Fact: “Inflammatory lower airway disease is a common and very costly disease in athletic horses. One of the leading causes of this disease is environmental irritants such as dust, smoke, mold spores, and chemical fumes. Anything, which adds environmental irritants to the air, has the potential to increase the incidence and severity of this disease in horses.” -source: Gary White, DVM Sallisaw
Food for Thought: Would you take your children to play next to a power plant?
Fact: Small particle emissions from coal-fired generating facilities present a very grave threat to human health. Inhalation of fine particles, especially fine sulfate particle, increases the risk of mortality and morbidity – even in attainment with National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
-source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Proceedings for Quantification of Environmental Costs MPUC Docket No. E-999/CI-93-583
Fact: Oxides of nitrogen, of which power plants are the largest stationary source, are the major ingredients in ground-level ozone. They create serious health problems of lung disease, heart disease, asthma, and bronchitis for children and elderly. – source: The Toll from Coal: National Wildlife Federation
Fact: The National Academy of Sciences found mercury exposure in utero may cause about 60,000 U.S. children to be born each year with neurological problems that could lead to poor school performance.
-source: Reducing Mercury Emissions by 95 percent is Critical to Protecting Maternal and Child Health. Environmental Working Group.
Environmental Issues:
Food for Thought: Environmentally friendly coal-fired technology – a misnomer.
Fact: There is no such thing as an environmentally friendly coal-fired power plant unless it releases zero pollutants. Anything else is just allotted pollution containing mercury, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, and carbon dioxide – all with potentially harmful effects.
Fact: Less pollution is still pollution especially when combined with other power plant emissions in the state and region. Coal-fired power plants are dirty; they are some of the largest polluters in the U.S. even with the best control technology available.
Fact: Over 65% of SO2 released to the air, or more than 13 million tons per year, come from electric utilities, especially those that burn coal. – source: http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/so2/what/.html
Fact: Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the primary causes of acid rain. In the U.S. about 2/3 of all SO2 and ¼ of all NOx comes from electric power generation that relies on burning fossil fuels like coal. – source: www.epa.gov/airmarkets/acidrain/index.html
Fact: Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants form acids in the atmosphere that fall to earth as rain, fog, snow or dry particles. This acid precipitation (known as “acid rain”) is often carried hundreds of miles by the wind. Acid rain damages forests and causes lakes and streams to become acidic- killing the fish. Acid rain also damages buildings, historical monuments and even cars. – source: Clear The Air: Power Plants, Your Health and the Environment.
Fact: Nitrogen oxides from power plants cause other harmful environmental impacts such as forest and crop damage from ozone, nitrogen over fertilization of estuaries, loss of fish and other aquatic species from acidification of streams and lakes, and reduced visibility because of regional haze. – source: National Wildlife Federation
Fact: Particulate pollution is caused by airborne solids that range from large grains to microscopic particles. Some of these particles are produced when coal is burned. – source: Glencoe Earth Science Textbook, pg. 560. Oklahoma State Mandated Science Book for Oklahoma Public Schools.
Fact: Sulfurous smog is created when fossil fuels are burned in electrical power plants. Sulfurous smog forms when sulfur compounds, dust, and smoke particles collect in an area where there’s little or no wind.
– source: Glencoe Earth Science Textbook, pg. 557. Oklahoma Mandated Science Book for Public Schools.
Fact: Electric Utilities produce over 1/3 of the carbon dioxide emitted from anthropogenic (man made) sources in the U.S. and 80% of those come from coal-fired power plants. Carbon dioxide is often characterized as a “greenhouse gas” because it acts to trap heat in the troposphere.
– source: Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Proceedings for Quantification of Environmental Costs MPUC Docket No. E-999/CI-93-583
Food for Thought: The proposed power plant would discharge its cooling water into the Chattahoochee River with elevated temperatures.
Fact: Power Plants use millions of gallons of water a day. In 1990, Oklahoma’s total water used to produce electricity was 91 million gallons of water per day. – source: USGS
Fact: Small changes in water temperature are all that are needed to have considerable environmental impact. Higher temperatures can cause enzymes and microbes to speed up, reducing oxygen and harming fish. Changes in temperature can also cause fish to migrate to regions where the water temperatures are ideal. Species that cannot migrate are at greater risk of death. -source: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~engenvi/environment/water/thermal.html; http://edu.leeds.ac.uk/~edu/technology/epb97/leec/therm.htm
http://www.discoveryschool.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook/atozscience/t/554007.html
Fact: By increasing the water’s temperature; 1) oxygen decreases, 2) photosynthesis increases, 3) bacteria increases, 4) metabolic rate of fish increases, 5) aquatic life becomes more susceptible to parasites and disease. - source: Thermal Pollution: A Global Problem. http://www.davison.k12.mi.us/academic/global/thermpol.htm
Food for Thought: Coal fired power plants are the king of polluters.,
Fact: Coal generally contains between 2-3% sulfur. When it is burned sulfur is released into the atmosphere. Thirteen million tons per year come from electric utilities, especially those that burn coal. Power Plants are responsible for over 64% of the annual SO2 emissions. It is also the primary component of fine particulate matter pollution in the eastern half of the country. These fine particles can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs than larger particles, and are linked with respiratory disease and premature death. Particulate pollution cuts short the lives of an estimated 45,000 Americans each year. These pollutants have been linked to serious public health threats including asthma attacks, cancer, premature death, and neurological damage. – source: www.epa.gov/airmarkets/acidrain/index.html
- source: http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/so2/what/.html
- source: http://ks.essortment.com/acidraineffect_rqmz.htm; Acid Rain’s effect on plants and wildlife.
Food for Thought: L.S. Power has publicly stated that the plant “will be a clean industry for the county”
Fact: In addition to the emissions, coal-burning power plants create enormous quantities of harmful coal dust and coal ash.
Fact: “Pollution from dirty power plants poses a serious threat to public health”. The highest per capita death impacts are in “coal country” states such as Kentucky, West Virginia, and Alabama. –source: Death, Disease, and Dirty Power: Mortality and Health Damage Due to Air Pollution from Power Plants
sanctioned by the Clean Air Task Force.
Fact: Fly ash and powder ash is left behind when coal is burned to make electricity. The ash contains measurable levels of lead, cadmium, zinc, mercury, arsenic and other toxic metals and chemicals.
- source: Public Hearing Planned on Disposal of Coal Ash. The Observer-Reporter 12/22/00 by Andy Scott
Fact: America’s coal and oil fired power plants produce more than 100 million tons of solid and liquid wastes each year. About 76 million tons of toxic waste is disposed of each year, posing significantly increased cancer risks. The sites have been exempted from federal EPA waste disposal rules for 20 years.
- source: Environmental News Service; Power Plant Wastes Threaten Environment, Public Health. 3/2000
Fact: Power plant wastes have contaminated fifty (50) public ground and surface water sites around the nation to date, thus impacting drinking water, livestock, wildlife, and even industrial uses.
- source: Environmental News Service; Power Plant Wastes Threaten Environment, Public Health. 3/2000
Fact: Besides mercury discharged in the air, power plants produce an estimated 81,000 pounds of mercury tainted solid waste each year. – source: Coal Burning Power Plants Spewing Mercury. Environmental News Service report by Cat Lazaroff. 11/18/1999
Food for Thought: Regulations do not necessarily protect local residents.
Fact: The fact that such emissions may be lawful does not mean that they are in the public interest.
Fact: Due to their inability to compete with private industry, the Georgia EPD is currently 200 employees short in manpower.
- source: The Atlanta Constitution, Charles Seabrooke
Fact: Lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, charge that 17 power plants illegally released massive amount of air pollutants for years, which the government says has contributed to some of the most severe environmental problems facing the U.S. today.
– source: Environmental News Service 1999.
Fact: There is no rational planning process going on. The influx of power plants is entirely market-driven, and the market right now is extremely chaotic and unaccountable. Georgia is planning 32, Mississippi 14 and Texas 49 new power plants.
Fact: Regulated List of Emissions from a coal-fired plant in Muskogee,OK
(source – Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality; most recent report 1999)
Pollutants lbs/year Pollutants lbs/year
Acetaldehyde 1,040 Mercury 1,720
Acrolein 520 Methylene Chloride 1,520
Barium 8,820 Selenium 460
Benzene 2,120 Toluene 1,920
Benzo (a)pyrene 1,020 Zinc 1,800
Chlorobenzene 1,280 Magnesium 58,580
Chromium 820 Carbon Monoxide 5,347,800
Copper 600 Volatile Organics –VOC 375,200
Formaldehyde 2,020 PM 10 (particulate matter 1,949,600
Hydrogen Chloride 41,680 <10 microns
Hydrogen Fluoride 245,000 Particulate Matter – TSP 118,400
Lead 760 Nitrogen Oxides 36,279,400
Manganese 4,020 Sulfur Oxides 59,337,800
DEQ regulates but with a disclaimer? Health impacts of breathing particulate matter (PM) include respiratory symptoms, aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease, alterations on the body’s defense systems against foreign materials, damage to lung tissue, carcinogenesis, and premature death. Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary or cardiovascular disease, influenza, asthmatics, the elderly, and children are highly susceptible to the effect of PM. – source: Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
Economic Issues:
Food for Thought: Property tax revenues could be delayed, less than forecasted, or you as a taxpayer foots the bill.
Food for Thought: There is no shortage of power in Georgia.
Fact: The state already produces more power than it consumes. – source: Atlanta Constitution.
Food for Thought: Power plants are in the business of making money.
Fact: Power generated by the plant would be marketed wholesale to utility companies in Georgia and surrounding states. - source: LS Power Company Officials. Early County News
Fact: “Power Plants are drawn to the state’s resources not its market”. “They’re what’s called merchant plants”. “They’ll sell their electricity wherever the highest price is”. -source: Quote by Mr. Ken Zimmerman, Chief of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s energy group. “Plants Could Bring More than Revenue” by Chip Minty. The Daily Oklahoman. 2/18/01
Food for Thought: The Sequoyah Energy Station will employ approximately 100 permanent professional operations and maintenance personnel - but not necessarily from Sequoyah County, OK.
Fact: As publicly stated by LS Power, “the ability to locate in an excellent community where plant personnel that come from elsewhere will want to live and raise their families” - source: Sequoyah Energy Station Questions and Answers.
Food for Thought: L.S. Power has publicly stated that “the company is glad to be in Sequoyah County, OK”.
-source: Mr. Mark Milburn, LS Power Development Project Manager. Seqouyah County Times. March 25, 2001
Fact: LS Power has a history of selling out its ownership interests to other companies after start up.
Food for Thought: A new power plant in Sequoyah County does not necessarily mean cheaper utility bills for residents – as a matter of fact you may end up paying more.
Food for Thought: “We’ve spent the past week or two speaking with people who live around there,” “The general consensus is that most see the benefit of the plant.” Quote Mr. Mark Milburn, LS Power
Development Project Manager. Sequoyah County Times. March 25, 2001.
Fact: Over 75 McKey community residents to date have signed petitions opposing the plant.