Star Staff Writer
| Burning coal emits a mixture of soot and sulfuric acid that crosses from the lungs into the blood stream. It causes 536 hospitalizations, 13,480 asthma attacks, 851 heart attacks and 76 lung cancer deaths in Alabama each year, the study found. “The closer you live to a coal-fired power plant the worse off you are, but we’re all at risk,” said Jonathon Banks of Clear the Air, a Washington, D.C., environmental coalition. Clear the Air hired Abt Associates, a consulting firm that does work for the EPA, to conduct the study. The company looked at the deaths and adverse health effects that would be prevented under a variety of proposed clean air legislation. It found the weakest options to be the Bush Administration’s proposal, Clear Skies, and the administration’s relaxed enforcement of the Clean Air Act. The study found the proposals would allow 4,000 more preventable deaths each year than would occur under enforcement of the current law. Bank said the Bush administration’s proposal has been stalled in Congress, but it has gone forward on a regulatory path that essentially implements it. “It’s just a recipe for delay that will leave all of us breathing dirty air for longer.” Dr. Michael Thun, head of epidemiological research for the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, said the background for the Clear the Air study came partly from an American Cancer Society study that looked at the relationship between particulate air pollution and premature death in just under 1.2 million people. That study was used as evidence when the EPA proposed stricter control of particulate air pollution during the Clinton Administration. “There’s now an extensive body of literature connecting particulate air pollution with premature death from heart and lung disease,” Thun said. He said he was not familiar enough with the Clear the Air study to comment on its findings. He wasn’t sure how the study estimated deaths specifically attributable to power plants. Particulate matter – which is basically soot in the air – also comes from other sources, such as automobiles. “The report doesn’t look at the whole picture,” says an EPA statement. “The nation’s air quality is improving. Administrator Leavitt is committed to accelerating the progress of cleaning the air.” EPA said it identified in 1997 an air quality standard for fine particles that would prevent thousands of premature deaths, and that standard will be in effect by the end of this year. “We’re not disputing that pollution is going down,” Clear the Air’s Banks said. “What we’re saying is, despite reductions in pollution we’re still at a point where nationally nearly 24,000 people die every year from power plant pollution. If people think that’s an acceptable outcome of our electricity production, then okay.” Banks said there are still dramatic reductions to be made to reduce negative health and economic impacts. “Industry will only talk about economic impact to their bottom line,” he said. “Nobody ever talks about the economic impact to all the health costs. They’re not even in the same ballpark.” Alabama Power spokesman Michael Sznajderman is critical of the report’s scientific merit. He said it does not go into the epidemiological issue of particulate matter and look at which pieces actually cause adverse health effects. Some studies, he said, indicate pollution from automobile exhaust is the main culprit. He called the study a “repackaging,” and said it doesn’t point out that air quality has been improving for years. “We acknowledge that there is a health impact to our emissions,” Sznajderman said. “We understand our responsibility for reducing our emissions, and that’s what we’ve been doing.” Alabama Power since 1996 has reduced its tons of sulfur dioxide emissions by 35 percent and tons of nitrogen oxides 22 percent, while increasing generation by about 16 percent. The utility expects to spend $2 billion on pollution controls between now and 2010, he said. As far as pending clean air regulations, Sznadjerman said the company supports the Bush administration proposal to cap mercury emissions with trading. A cap and trade sets an overall maximum amount of emissions, but does not set a cap for individual facilities. Plants are allocated emission allowances, which they can trade. “We like the cap and trade approach because it gives us the flexibility to figure out where we can get the most bang for the buck,” Sznajderman said. “Cost is an issue. We have shareholders that have a financial investment and customers who are very price sensitive. The bottom line is we’re going to meet whatever the law tells us to do.” Alabama Power, however, is in disagreement with the Department of Justice over a rule in the Clean Air Act – New Source Review. Banks said the Bush Administration’s stance on New Source Review is an example of their weak enforcement of the Clean Air Act. New Source Review requires that when a company makes significant modifications to an old plant that increase emissions, it must then install the state of the art pollution controls required of new plants. Industry groups, including Southern Company, lobbied for a “clarification” in the rule after the Clinton Administration in 1999 filed lawsuits accusing Alabama Power and other utilities of violating New Source Review. In October 2003, the Bush Administration clarified the rule to exempt “routine maintenance, repair and replacement,” the language Southern Co. had suggested. The clarification has yet to be put in effect because several government agencies and public health and environment groups have filed lawsuits challenging the rule. In March, a stay was lifted on the 1999 suit against Alabama Power that claims the utility made major modifications at its five largest coal-fired power plants without obtaining permits or installing required pollution controls. Sznajderman said Alabama Power has since filed a motion with the Justice Department to proceed with the case. “The bottom line is we have said consistently for years that we believe the DOJ case was without merit,” he said. “We have always complied with the law.” He said the company’s position is that the Clinton Administration changed the game in the 7th inning and decided the pollution controls that their regulators accepted for decades were inadequate. The complaint would ask Alabama Power to pay a fine, obtain permits for construction and modifications and install “state of the art” pollution controls. Sznajderman said everyone would agree the pollution controls Alabama Power has been and will install over the coming years are “state of the art.” Facts from the study about fine particle pollution- Fine particle pollution from power plants causes 643 deaths, 76,771 lost workdays, 536 hospitalizations, 851 heart attacks and 13,480 asthma attacks in Alabama each year. - Sulfur dioxide, formed when coal is burned, may cause coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, nasal congestion, low birth weight, and make asthma worse, destabilize heart rhythms and increase risk of infant death. - Nitrogen oxides, also formed when coal is burned, decreases lung function and is associated with respiratory disease in children. - Particulate matter, formed from SO2 and NOx in the atmosphere, enters the blood stream through the lungs and may cause inflammation of the cardiac system, a cause of cardiac disease including heart attack and stroke. - In 2002, 448,248 tons of SO2 and 161,563 tons of NOx were emitted into Alabama’s air. - People living in the most polluted cities have a 12 percent increased risk of cardiopulmonary death and a 16 percent increased risk for lung cancer over those in the cleanest cities. - Infants in areas with high levels of particulate matter face a 26 percent increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and a 40 percent increased risk of respiratory death. Source: Clear the Air |
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About Jessica Centers
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Jessica Centers, a University of Missouri graduate, covers business for The Anniston Star. |
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jcenters@annistonstar.com |