Report says Montana’s power plants big polluters

Montana’s power plants rank 11th in the nation for dioxin pollution — a cancer-causing toxin found in power plant emissions, a new study shows.

By JENNIFER McKEE – IR State Bureau

The report, titled ‘‘Toxic Neighbors,” was released by the National Environmental Trust late last week and analyzed pollution information gathered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2001.

Power plants are the largest source of toxic pollution in the nation, outpacing all other industries, the report found. In terms of overall pollution, Montana’s power plants did not rank very high. The state ranked 40th in the country for toxic pollution from power plants.

But dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical formed from the burning of coal, was more prevalent in Montana pollution. Montana ranked 11th in the nation as a source of dioxin from power plants and PPL Generation LLC, which owns coal-burning plants in Montana and elsewhere, ranked third in the nation among power companies.

Montana produced 16.62 grams of dioxin in 2001, the report said.

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‘‘That may not sound like a lot,” said John Stanton, vice president of the National Environmental Trust and an author of the report. ‘‘But these chemicals are so toxic that you need only miniscule amounts, parts per trillion, to trigger carcinogenic effects.”

Dioxin bio-accumulates, Stanton said, which means that it concentrates more in animals higher up the food chain, even if it is released into the environment in small quantities.

‘‘You don’t get (dioxin exposure) from breathing, you get it from animal fats and animal tissues,” like meat or milk, he said.

There is currently no limit on the amount of dioxin that power plants can produce and the Bush administration recently quashed plans to establish a limit, Stanton said.

But Paul Wirth, a spokesman for PPL Corp., in Allenstown, Penn., said the company has ‘‘made significant strides in reducing emissions.”

The company favors a Bush administration plan that would reduce mercury from power plant pollution, but not put a limit on the amount of dioxin plants can produce.

‘‘You’re talking really trace amounts,” he said. ‘‘Clearly, it’s a toxic substance, but unfortunately, our nation needs all its power plants. Until there is an (energy) alternative that is viable and economic, we’re going to do what we can (with coal.)”

Wirth said his company wants to reduce power plant pollution, but it wants to do so in a slow, steady way that will not jeopardize the power plant’s ability to turn a profit and stay open.

As for removing dioxin from pollution, Stanton and Wirth are at polar opposites.

Stanton said technology has existed for more than 30 years that can reduce dioxin and other pollution from power plant smoke. Wirth said there is nothing that can ‘‘cost-effectively remove these kinds of pollutants.”

Eleven new power plants are in various stages of development in Montana.

Jim Mockler of the Montana Coal Council in Helena said that while he didn’t think all of those plants would open, coal and coal burning power plants will continue to be an important part of the nation’s energy picture and the Montana economy.

Mockler said he thought the study was biased because it failed to look at toxic chemicals that come from natural occurrences, like the hot pots of Yellowstone National Park or forest fires.

‘‘Let’s put it all out there,” he said.

Pat Judge of Montana Environmental Information Center, a Helena-based environmental group, said he didn’t think coal-burning power plants really were economical when one considers the high-cost of building new power lines. He also questioned why the state, which already exports most of the power generated in Montana, needs any new plants and the pollution they bring.

‘‘Coal is the single most polluting way to generate a kilowatt hour of electricity,” he said.

http://helenair.com/articles/2003/12/07/montana_top/a01120703_03.txt