Echo

Using coal to deliver wind power

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The Ludington Daily News reports that the S.S. Badger carferry is expanding its operating season until Nov. 2 to transport wind tower parts. That means the Badger will be moving parts for building clean alternative energy while under steam provided by a power plant criticized for polluting Lake Michigan. The vessel is the last operational coal-fired steamship. It travels between Ludington Mich., and Manitowoc Wis., and is  under fire for dumping coal ash into the lake.

Echo

New multimedia report shows Chicago-Wyoming coal connection

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Chicago teen Luis Vega organized a march to protest pollution from the Fisk Generation Station.

His story is part of a multi-media report documenting the impact of the nation’s dependency on coal power.

The report also shows how states swap air pollution and the connection between Wyoming’s coal mines and Chicago’s citizens.

Echo

Opponents of CMS plan to build coal plant not giving up the fight

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(MI) Jackson Citizen Patriot – Environmental groups are continuing their fight against Consumers Energy’s plans to build a new coal plant near Bay City, outlining Thursday some of the environmental and economic impacts. The Jackson-based utility has said its planned 830-megawatt plant is expected to create 1,800 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs once it begins operation in 2017. More

Echo

Special Report: Cleaning Coal

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The Great Lakes states are home to 155 coal-fired power plants that discharge wastewater into local lakes and streams.  That wastewater can carry heavy metals and other dangerous contaminants, and has gone largely unregulated for the past 27 years.  Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to step in with new rules to fend off environmental concerns. Join the Great Lakes Echo for a four-day series unpacking the problems with power plant wastewater in the Great Lakes. Day 1. Great Lakes states spotty on coal limits; some water contaminants ignored. Day 2.

Waste

Few Great Lakes power plants even look for this toxic contaminant in their waste

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By Sarah Coefield
Dec. 17, 2009

Gibson Lake, built by one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants to store wastewater, has attracted birds and fishermen to its shores for years. But after years of wastewater discharge, the Indiana lake contains high levels of selenium that threaten hundreds of species of birds, including the endangered least tern, and render fish unsafe to eat. Selenium is an essential nutrient, but in wildlife and people excess amounts can be dangerous. As with mercury, selenium monitoring and regulations are spotty across the Great Lakes region.

Echo

Mercury limits vary for Great Lakes; may harm already polluted waters

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By Elisabeth Pernicone
Dec. 16, 2009

Due to its many health threats, mercury is regulated in foods, pesticides and industry.  But some coal-fired power plants in the Great Lakes region discharge mercury into water at levels hundreds of times greater than deemed safe for wildlife and up to 25 times greater than deemed safe for humans. It’s all legal, and even when it’s not, most violators are never fined. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to step up its regulations of mercury and other contaminants in coal-fired power plant wastewater.

Echo

Great Lakes states spotty on coal limits; some water contaminants ignored.

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By Sarah Coefield
Dec. 15, 2009

Power plants across the nation dump water laced with metals and other contaminants into streams and lakes, threatening drinking water supplies and wildlife. Some states let plants emit metals at hundreds of times the level that federal officials say is safe.  Others don’t even require monitoring for most of them. But now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new regulation that would require more than 600 coal-fired power plants to clean up–perhaps even eliminate–the waste they put into lakes, rivers and other waterways. And electricity users will foot the bill.

Energy

We Energies’ project starts creating power

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – The most expensive construction project in state history, We Energies’ new $2.3 billion coal-fired plant in Oak Creek, has begun generating power, having reached several construction milestones in recent months, the company’s chairman said Thursday. The plant consists of two coal-fired boilers next to an older coal plant on Lake Michigan. The first of the two boilers began burning coal earlier this month and has been running at 25% of maximum power in recent days, said Gale Klappa, chairman and chief executive of Wisconsin Energy Corp., the parent of We Energies. Bechtel Power Corp., the contractor on the project, also has made progress on building the second boiler, which is now 74% complete, Klappa said. More