(no subject)

[jackshoegazer]

I am drinking alternately hot jasmine green tea and iced lemon water while writing a six-page paper for my Environmental Issues class on the controversy surrounding the three coal-burning power plants on the isthmus here in Madison.

Apparently all three of them have no pollution controls or scrubbers whatsoever, in clear violation of the Clean Air Act.  The Sierra Club has sued them to get the problem fixed but even though they won the suit, nothing has changed.  I've contacted MG&E to find out what the excuse is, and I'm waiting to hear back from someone.  I found one article talking about how they'll stop burning coal at the plant that was built in 1902 by 2011, but that doesn't really assuage my worries.

As you were.

Comments

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

Mmm iced lemon water sounds damn good.

That's absolutely shameful. How in the hell has that been allowed to go on without scrubbers for so long?

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

The Clean Air act wasn't passed until 1977. New plants had to be built to the new standards with new technology. They allowed older plants to bypass the standards but said that they had to upgrade whenever they did repairs - assuming that these old plants would be running for maybe 10 years at the most without pollution-reducing technology. They didn't think these plants would still be going 30 years later. UW and Alliant did do some major upgrades to the Charter St. plant but broke the law by not upgrading their scrubbers and pollution-reducers when they upgraded the rest of the plant.

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sick of fuckers constantly screwing us over.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, it's a bit of a misnomer, but modern technologies have gotten coal burning to the point where they can filter out about 90% of the pollutants. It's not 100% clean as the name implies, but it's a LOT better than where we've been. Obviously solar or wind (hydro, thermal, etc.) would be best as those have no emissions. Even natural gas and biomass would be better than the cleanest coal. But "clean coal" is a decent intermediary step, especially since America is about as coal-rich as the Middle East is oil-rich.

[celestialgldfsh.livejournal.com]

That's just sad. Regulations are in place for a reason. My husband is a reactor operator, so I get to hear all about the intense scrutiny of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Of course, coal doesn't scare people the way nuclear energy does, but the violations still need correction.

I hope you get a reply from MG&E, but somehow I don't think they'll say anything intelligible.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Basically, they claim they were in compliance, but the lawsuit went against them - when they upgraded other equipment they should have also installed the scrubbers and other clean technology. They are being forced to do it now :P

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

Do you think this is why we have so many air-quality alert days in Madison?

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Yes! That is precisely why we have so many air-quality alert days in Madison. And I quote:

There are three coal-burning power plants on Madison’s isthmus alone – the Madison Gas & Electric Blount Street Plant, the University’s Charter Street Plant and the Department of Administration Capitol Heating Plant. These three are “the largest sources of soot, smog, mercury, and global warming pollution in Dane County.” The oldest, the Blount Street Generating Station, was built in 1902, when there were no environmental protections at all. None of these stations are using scrubbers or modern pollution controls which could cut this pollution by up to 90%.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Make sure you talk to the University about our coal plant violations, and someone at SAGE at UW.