The world's appetite for energy seems insatiable and coal, cheap and plentiful, is increasingly being used to generate electricity. In the United States almost half of our electricity comes from burning coal and fast developing China already uses more coal than the United States, the European Union and Japan, combined.
But in addition to generating energy coal plants spew carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases scientists say is warming the planet. Our series "Generating Controversy: The Changing Climate of Coal" looks at the problems and promise of coal, and the potential of new technologies.
Marblehead Reporter
Posted Mar 02, 2010 @ 01:47 PM
Marblehead —
To the editor:
HealthLink receives frequent complaints about the pollution visibly spreading from the Salem Power Plant into our neighborhoods. We are documenting these opacity complaints with daily photos of pollution from the stacks. Some of what we see may be water vapor, but as we all know, water by itself isn’t brown, yellow and black.
The Conservation Law Foundation is now suing Dominion over self-reported “opacity” violations and Representative Ehrlich’s recent opinion piece sparked the usual denial of pollution-caused health effects.
Some background information and a few facts might be useful now.
Let’s start with definition of opacity and an explanation of why the EPA regulates it. Opacity is a measurement of how dense the soot particles are in the air and how much light is obscured by the particles. A 20-percent opacity reading for two minutes is an example of a violation. States and the EPA use opacity data as a means to assure effective particulate emissions controls are in place.
The EPA has estimated that airborne particles cause over 15,000 premature deaths in the U.S. per year. Scientists have correlated exposure to particulates with increased hospitalizations for asthma attacks, worsening of lung disease, chronic bronchitis and heart damage. Smaller particles can travel deep into the lungs and enter the blood stream. In a 2002 New York School of Medicine study exposure to air tainted with fine soot particulates is linked to lung cancer.
Bottom line Is: if you can see the pollution, you breathe the pollution, and it’s proven to be hazardous to your health.
Dominion has repeatedly asserted that they comply with all federal and state requirements. Yet, after review of Dominion’s data, we have learned that they reported opacity violations 286 times since 2005! There is something disingenuous about their “in compliance” claim, in that they are held to a less protective set of standards than are newly constructed plants, even after HealthLink and other groups succeeded in strengthening those standards. They just don’t bother to mention that their standards are not as tough as the modern plants they compete against to sell us electricity.
So, the core question is: What will it take for Dominion to meet the regulations and reduce our exposure to disease-causing pollution? It’s clear this plant has outlived its useful life and it’s time to look forward, find ways to help the region, the city and the employees to transition to a new clean-energy economy. We hope the lawsuit and the state-funded study to explore future options will result in a plan to protect our physical and economic health.
Jane Bright, HealthLink
Bridge Street
March 1, 2010 Mass. wind farm project sent to preservation panel
NOTE: THIS IS THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS (AP) –
BOSTON — The secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday asked a key historical preservation panel to weigh in on a proposed Cape Cod project that would be the nation's first offshore wind farm.
In a statement, Secretary Ken Salazar said that the Cape Wind developer and two area Native American tribes could not reach an agreement on the project, one of the many roadblocks confronting it.
As a result, Salazar said he was sending the proposal to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which has 45 days to allow the public to express its views on the project. Salazar said he will then take comments from the council into consideration before deciding whether to approve the wind farm.
"The time has come to bring the reviews and analysis of the Cape Wind Project to a conclusion," Salazar said. "The parties, the public and the permit applicants deserve resolution and certainty."
Salazar is expected to make a decision on the project in April.
Cape Wind developers have proposed building 130 turbines, each more than 400 feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Supporters of the proposal say the $1 billion wind project would provide cheaper energy, reduce pollution and create green jobs.
But the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Cape Cod and the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Martha's Vineyard say the project will interfere with sacred rituals and desecrate tribal burial sites. They and other opponents say the project is a threat to aviation, bird life and commercial fishing interests and should be moved to a site outside Nantucket Sound that Cape Wind says isn't feasible.
Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers said the developer "made a generous offer" to the two tribes but no agreement was reached by Monday, Salazar's deadline. He declined to give details of the offer.
The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's chairman, Cedric Cromwell, and the Aquinnah tribe's historic preservation officer, Bettina Washington, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment Monday.
In January, the National Park Service agreed with tribal claims that Nantucket Sound was eligible for a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, meaning it's deemed worthy of preservation.
Last month, Salazar toured the Nantucket Sound site and watched a crimson sunrise on a Mashpee beach near where the Wampanoag conduct rituals.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
