Transcript Health Risks Associated With the Proposed 750 MW Coal-Fired Power Plant in Tyrone, WI Crispin H.

Health Risks Associated With the
Proposed 750 MW Coal-Fired
Power Plant in Tyrone, WI
Crispin H. Pierce, Ph.D.
for the
Chippewa Valley Sustainable Energy
Association
Overview
• What health risks would be caused by the
coal-fired plant?
• Which pollutants would be emitted and
what are their associated toxicities?
• What are the complexities in estimating
personal exposure and risk?
• What are realistic health risks from
operating the proposed coal-fired plant?
Health Risks
http://geology.usgs.gov/connections/bia/rshealth-effects.htm
http://www.umwa.org/booksetc/books.shtml
Sources of Health Risks From the
Proposed Facility
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Coal mining
Mine waste
Coal transportation
Site destruction and construction activities
Power plant emissions
Waste handling (notably bottom and fly
ash)
Clean Air Task Force:
http://www.catf.us/publications/reports/Cradle_to_Grave.pdf
Coal Mining
http://www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal/007/43.html
Coal Mining Deaths and Disability
• 1,000 Current and former mine workers die each
year from coal pneumoconiosis.
• 9,000 Years of potential lives lost to life
expectancy each year.
• 10,000 Hospitalizations for coal pneumoconiosis
each year.
• $1,500,000,000 is paid each year by the Social
Security Administration and Department of Labor
to former miners with black lung disease.
Coal Mine Waste
http://www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal/008/
Coal-Fired Power Plant Emissions
Ron Schmitt / AP file / http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5174391/
Toxicants Emitted From
Coal Plants
http://casahome.org/uploads/EPT_INFOWSBrown.PDF
Clean Air Task Force: http://www.catf.us/publications/reports/Cradle_to_Grave.pdf
Annual Air Emissions from a Coal-Fired
Power Plant (Lakeviewa)
1997
1998
Predicted if
Coal-Fired
Predicted if
Gas-Fired
Operating Capacity
19%
28%
80%
80%
Electrical Generation
(GW-h)
1,933
2,800
8,000
8,000
Sulphur Dioxide (tonnes)
13,420
18,820
45,600*
0*
Nitrogen Oxides (tonnes)
5,480
7,820
21,600*
2,000*
48*
70
200*
0*
1,933*
2,800*
8,000*
2,800*
Mercury (kilograms)
Carbon Dioxide
(kilotonnes)
Annual Emissions, Emission Rates & Operating Capacity provided by Environment Canada;
Full Capacity – 1,140 MW x 8760 hours = 9.9864 million MWh (*Estimates)
ahttp://www.irr-
neram.ca/about/May%2019%20Workshop/Monica%20Campbell%20talk.ppt#280,35,
Some Policy Questions of Local Significance
Human Exposure
http://pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/mercbuild/images/exposure.jpg
Exposure Complexities
• Constituents of coal (e.g., uranium,
thorium, sulfur)
• Pollution control equipment of facility
• Surrounding human, plant, animal
populations
• Wind speed and direction, precipitation,
soil conditions, surface water
characteristics, depth to groundwater (for
waste).
http://casahome.org/uploads/EPT_INFOWSBrown.PDF
Mercury Exposure
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/pics/exposurea.gif
Risk Complexities
http://casahome.org/uploads/EPT_INFOWSBrown.PDF
Realistic Health Risk Estimates
• Within the electric power industry, coalfired plants generate 97% of fine particle
soot and sulfur dioxide emissions. Fine
particles cause cardiovascular disease
and chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease. Sulfur dioxide causes lung
irritation and acid precipitation.
• Coal-fired plants generate 92% of smog-forming
nitrogen oxide emissions, which increase the
rate of respiratory disease in children.
• Coal-fired plants generate 86% of emissions of
carbon dioxide, the primary global warming
pollutant, which causes sea level rise, extinction
of species, and increased severe weather
events (e.g. heat waves).
• Coal-fired plants generate almost 100% of
mercury emissions, which causes
neurotoxicity and developmental effects in
the fetus. The developing fetus is about
five-to-ten times more susceptible to
mercury toxicity than an adult.
• Environmental Protection Agency
consultants have estimated that fine
particle pollution from power plants cause
early death for 474 Wisconsinites, 492
hospitalizations, 11,949 asthma attacks
and 69,212 lost work days in Wisconsin
every year.
• The State of Wisconsin has advised
children and women of childbearing age
against consuming large fish from all of its
lakes and from 192 miles of its rivers due
to the risks from mercury contamination.
Studies of Health Risks
•
Neurotoxicology. 1996 Spring;17(1):197-211.
– Probabilistic assessment of health risks of methylmercury from burning
coal.
Lipfert FW, Moskowitz PD, Fthenakis V, Saroff L.
Department of Applied Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New
York 11973, USA.
A Monte Carlo model is used to simulate a "worst case" scenario in which a
population of 5000 fish eaters in the upper midwestern United States derive the
freshwater fish portion of their diet from local waters near a hypothetical large
coal-fired power plant. Predictions of MeHg levels in hair by this model compared
well with an observed distribution of 1437 women. Based on three
epidemiological studies of congenital neurological risks, we find that fetal effects
appear to be more critical [than adult effects] and that there is a smaller margin
of safety for pregnant consumers of freshwater sportfish. However, the margin of
safety is still considerable [but] may have been diminished by uncertainties in the
relationships between maternal hair Hg and the actual fetal exposures.
• The effects of a coal power plant on the environment and
wildlife in southeastern Turkey.
Yilmaz K, Inac S, Dikici H, Reyhanli AC.
Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Faculty of Agriculture,
Kahramanmaras, Turkey. [email protected]
This study was carried out to determine the possible effects of the
Afsin-Elbistan Coal Power Plant (AECPP) on the environment. The
results of the statistical analysis…showed that there were significant
differences for pH, SO4(-2)-S, Ni and Pb [between less and more
contaminated areas]. The discharge water carries a potential risk for
the aquatic life and soil health in the area. The honey quality was
also affected negatively by fly ash and emission.
•
J Epidemiol Community Health. 1997 Jun;51(3):227-32.
– Has the prevalence of asthma increased in children? Evidence from a long
term study in Israel.
Goren AI, Hellmann S.
Institute for Environmental Research, Ministry of the Environment and Sackler
School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
– BACKGROUND: The permit to build and operate the first 1400 megawatt coal
fired power plant in Israel was given provided that three monitoring systemsenvironmental, agricultural, and health monitoring-be set up near the plant.
– METHODS: 2nd, 5th, and 8th grade school-children living in three communities
with different expected levels of air pollution were followed up every three years.
They performed pulmonary function tests (PFT), and their parents filled out
American Thoracic Society-National Heart and Lung Institute (ATS-NHLI) health
questionnaires.
– CONCLUSIONS: The increased prevalence of asthma could be observed in all
the communities studied and does not seem to be connected with the operation
of the power plant.
• Eur J Epidemiol. 1989 Mar;5(1):87-9.
– A retrospective cohort mortality study on workers of two
thermoelectric power plants: fourteen-year follow-up results.
Petrelli G, Menniti-Ippolito F, Taroni F, Raschetti R, Magarotto G.
Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica-Istituto Superiore di Sanita,
Rome, Italy.
A retrospective cohort study was performed on the workers of two
power plants near Venice (which use coal since 1968) in order to test
the association between exposure to coal dust and ashes and mortality
for all causes, all cancers, and respiratory and digestive cancer. No
Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) was found in excess in the working
cohort with respect to the standard population for any of the investigated
effects.
• Arch Environ Health. 1983 Nov-Dec;38(6):325-30.
– Health effects of air pollution due to coal combustion in the
Chestnut Ridge Region of Pennsylvania: results of crosssectional analysis in adults.
Schenker MB, Speizer FE, Samet JM, Gruhl J, Batterman S.
Respiratory questionnaires (ATS-DLD-78) were administered to
5557 adult women in a rural area of Western Pennsylvania to
evaluate the health effects of air pollution resulting from coal
combustion. The risk of "wheeze most days or nights" in
nonsmokers residing in the high and medium pollution areas was
1.58 and 1.26 (P = .02), respectively, relative to residents in the
low pollution area. In the subset of residents who had lived in the
same location for at least 5 yr, relative risks increased to 1.95
and 1.40 (P less than .01), respectively.
Conclusions
• Coal-fired power plants in Wisconsin
cause premature deaths, hospitalizations,
and lost days of work.
• These plants are the principal cause of
mercury poisoning of Wisconsin lakes,
leading to statewide fish advisories.
• These facilities also cause acid
precipitation.
• The construction of a 750 MW coal-fired
power plant in Tyrone would increase all of
these health risks, particularly to people
living in the region.
• The health risks increase is difficult to
estimate, and may be considered
“acceptable” under current exposure
standards.
For More Information
• Crispin Pierce
• [email protected]
• (715) 836-5589