Power Plants and Your Health

Despite the progress made in reducing air pollution since the passage of the Clean Air Act, serious problems remain. In many parts of the country, air quality has remained poor and even deteriorated. Emissions from power plants are responsible for some of the most pressing public health and environmental problems caused by air pollution. Curbing emissions from dirty coal-burning power plants, is central to the success of any attempt to reduce the threats posed by air pollution.

Coal-Burning Power Plants are the Single Largest Source of Air Pollution
In terms of volume and variety of contaminants emitted, no other single pollution source comes close to matching the negative impact from electric power plants. Nationally, annual power plant emissions are responsible for 36% of carbon dioxide pollution, 64% of sulfur dioxide pollution, 26% of nitrogen oxide pollution, and 34% of mercury pollution. 1

Among power plants, the dirty and old coal-fired facilities produce the most pollution. 56% of power plant boilers in operation in the U.S. are fueled by coal. 2 However, they account for over 93% of nitrogen oxides, over 96% of sulfur dioxide, over 88% of carbon dioxide, and 99% of mercury emissions for the entire electric industry. 3

Clean Air Act Loophole Lets Oldest, Dirtiest Power Plants Off the Hook
When the Clean Air Act was amended in 1970 and 1977, the power industry argued that their oldest, dirtiest, power plants would soon be retired and replaced by cleaner, new power plants and therefore should be exempt from new emission regulations. For a variety of reasons, most of these plants are still running, 25 years later, and they are still exempt from modern, state-of-the-art pollution control requirements. This special treatment for grandfathered power plants permits these facilities to pollute at rates up to 10 times that of modern coal plants. Their special treatment also means that power plants are now the only major source of mercury to escape pollution control.

This lucrative loophole allows power companies using old, dirty power plants to gain a competitive cost advantage over their more environmentally responsible competitors. As a result, the power industry is relying on these dirty old plants more than ever. For instance, between 1992 and 1998, there was a 15.8% increase in the amount of electricity generated from dirty, grandfathered, coal-fired power plants. 4 Dirty power is so profitable to the electric industry that it now wants until 2030 – 60 years after passage of the CAA – before dirty old grandfathered power plants are required to meet modern pollution reduction requirements. 5

Power Plants Cause Massive Health and Environmental Damage
In part because of their special grandfathered status, power plants have become the biggest single cause of our unhealthy air.

Air pollution has gotten so bad that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that excessive particulate matter (soot) pollution results in 15,000 premature deaths annually. 6 Studies put the total annual mortality rate due to particulate matter pollution at more than 45,000 premature deaths. 7 120 million Americans currently live, work and play in areas with unhealthy air.

The four major pollutants released by power plants are:

• Nitrogen oxides (NOx) . NOx emissions create ozone pollution, which is most commonly known for causing smog warnings and asthma , and it also damages aquatic ecosystems. During 1998, the health standard for smog was exceeded more than 7,694 times in 41 states and the District of Columbia. 8
• Sulfur dioxide (SO2) . SO2 is the primary component of fine particulate matter pollution. These fine particles can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs than larger particles, and are linked to respiratory disease, cancer, and premature death. Like NOx, SO2 has a devastating impact on those who suffer from asthma . They are experiencing more frequent and severe respiratory attacks 9 and higher levels of mortality as well.
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) CO2 is a byproduct of the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. It also occurs naturally, and plays an important role in regulating the Earth's temperature. Too much CO2, however, causes excess heat to be trapped in the atmosphere, forcing global temperatures upward, the phenomenon known as global warming . As a result of our reliance on fossil fuels, CO2 in the atmosphere has increased 30 percent since the start of the industrial revolution.
• Mercury . Mercury contamination has already forced 40 states to warn their residents to restrict their fish consumption because of high levels of mercury in lakes, streams and coastal waters. 10 Especially vulnerable are women of child-bearing age, pregnant and lactating women, children and populations that consume large amounts of fish such as Native Americans and our nation's poor. Power plants cause 34% of the total mercury emissions in the US, and coal-burning power plants are the source of nearly all of that mercury. 11

Environmental Damage
Despite the 1990 Acid Rain Program, SO2 and NOx pollution continues to ravage our national parks, causing reduced visibility, and damage to vegetation and wildlife. NOx emissions can also cause eutrophication (over fertilization from nitrogen) of estuaries 12 , and acidification of streams and lakes, which can cause substantial damage to fish and other aquatic species. Mercury also harms aquatic systems by causing reproductive failures in fish, as well as in birds that eat fish.

Dirty Power Plants Must be Forced to Clean Up Their Acts
No other single source of pollution causes so many adverse public health impacts and so much environmental destruction as do coal-burning power plants. Improving the air we breathe and share with plants and animals must begin with cleaning up dirty old power plants. Legislation in Congress is needed to finally close the 30-year old loophole that lets power plants off the hook. In addition, all power plants must do their fair share to reduce carbon and mercury emissions. Only when dirty old power plants are made to comply with modern pollution control standards can we all begin to breathe easier.

Footnotes:

1) US EPA, "National Air Quality and Emission Trends Report, 1997" (December 1998), Tables A-4 and A-8, pp. 114, 117. Available online at www.epa.gov/air/aqtrnd97/index.html .

2) US EPA, Acid Rain Program, "National Summary Percent Contribution by Unit Fuel Type."

3) Ibid.

4) US PIRG and Environmental Working Group, "Up In Smoke," (compiled from US Department of Energy (DOE) and USEPA data).

5) Official utility industry position advanced in the EPA New Source Review negotiations currently underway.

6) US EPA OAQPS Staff Papers on smog and soot pollution, "Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone and Particulate Matter," (1996).

7) Natural Resources Defense Council, "Breathtaking: Premature Mortality Due to Particulate Air Pollution in 239 American Cities," (1996).

8) US EPA, Acid Rain Program, "National SO2 Emissions Trend for all Title IV Affected Units," contained in "Emissions Scorecard 1998." Available online at www.epa.gov/airmarkets/emissions/score98/index.html .

9) US EPA Fact Sheet, "Update: National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories," EPA 823-F-005 (July 1999). Available online at http://www.epa.gov/ost/fish/epafish.pdf .

10) US EPA, Office of Water, "Air Pollution and Water Quality: Atmospheric Deposition Initiative: Where is the air pollution coming from?" Available at: www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/airdep/index.html .

11) National Park Service, "Great Smoky Mountains National Park Management Folio #2," (1997).

12) According to EPA, 40 percent of all nitrogen contamination of surface waters comes from air pollution. This nitrogen loading, or eutrophication, leads to algae blooms and oxygen depletion. Eutrophication has been linked to pfisteria outbreaks in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere.