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| − | {{#badges: Climate change |CoalSwarm}} | + | {{Moved to GEM}} |
| − | '''Brayton Point Station''' is owned and operated by Dominion Energy Brayton Point LLC, a subsidiary of [[Dominion|Dominion]].<ref name="lose">[http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x428367100 "Brayton Point loses appeal permit"], ''Herald News'', September 29, 2007]</ref> The plant began operating in the 1960s and is located in Somerset, [[Massachusetts and coal|Massachusetts]]. The cities of Fall River, MA, New Bedford, MA, Brockton, MA, and Providence, RI are within a thiry-mile radius of both Dominion's Brayton Point station and NRG's [[Somerset Power Generating Station|Somerset station]].<ref name="carma">[ http://www.catf.us/publications/factsheets/Children_at_Risk-Massachusetts.pdf "Children at Risk State Fact Sheets: Massachusetts",] Clean Air Task Force website, accessed June 10, 2009.</ref>
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| − | In 2005, Brayton Point was purchased by Dominion from [[PG&E|PG&E]].<ref name="lose"/><ref name="beach"> Kevin O’Connor, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x877720803/ "The spirit of a beach community year-round"] ''Herald News'', September 18, 2008.</ref> Brayton Point is the largest coal-fired power plant in New England, generating 1,600 MW each year, or approximately one-fifth of Massachusetts’ electricity.<ref name="standoff">Boston Globe Editorial Staff, [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/12/17/the_brayton_point_standoff/ "The Brayton Point standoff",] ''Boston Globe'', December 17, 2006.</ref><ref name="reduce">[http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/12/21/dominion_resources_to_reduce_water_use/ "Dominion Resources to reduce water use",] ''Boston Globe'', December 21, 2007.</ref> There are four energy-generating units. Three generating units can burn coal or natural gas; the fourth can burn oil or natural gas.<ref name="standoff"/><ref name="prompts"> Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x501038221 "Brayton Point: Reducing emissions prompts mass construction"] ''Herald News'', April 26, 2008.</ref> The plant burns 40,000 tons of coal every three days, which produces ninety-five percent of the electricity produced there.<ref name="prompts"/> Every four days, the coal arrives by barge.<ref name="prompts"/>
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| − | |41.71404, -71.19138
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| − | ==Plant Data==
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| − | *'''Owner''': Dominion Energy New England
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| − | *'''Parent Company''': [[Dominion]]
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| − | *'''Plant Nameplate Capacity''': 1,125 MW
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| − | *'''Units and In-Service Dates''': 241 MW (1963), 241 MW (1964), 643 MW (1958)
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| − | *'''Type''': coal, gas, and oil (3 coal and gas units; 1 oil and gas unit)
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| − | *'''Location''': 1 Brayton Point Rd., Somerset, MA 02725
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| − | *'''GPS Coordinates''': 41.71404, -71.19138
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| − | *'''Coal Consumption''':
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| − | *'''Coal Source''': Columbia, Kentucky, and Colorado <ref name="ucsma">Union of Concerned Scientists, [http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_energy/UCS-BCBC-factsheet-Massachusetts.pdfv "Massachusetts' dependence on imported coal",] accessed May 2010.</ref>
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| − | *'''Number of Employees''': 262 full-time <ref name="ucsea">Erin Ailworth, [http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2010/05/in_2008_massachusetts_new_hamp.html "States losing to costly coal, UCS says",] "Boston Globe" Green Blog, May 18, 2010.</ref>
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| − | ==Plant Demographics==
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| − | ''For data sources and comparisons to other plants, see [[Coal plants near residential areas]]''
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| − | * Population within a three-mile radius: 77,676
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| − | * Population within a one-mile radius: 2,209
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| − | * Three-mile per capita income: $16,461
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| − | * Three-mile non-white population: 9.4%
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| − | ==Emissions Data==
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| − | *'''2006 CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions''': 6,756,448 tons
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| − | *'''2006 SO<sub>2</sub> Emissions''': 25,776 tons
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| − | *'''2006 SO<sub>2</sub> Emissions per MWh''':
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| − | *'''2006 NO<sub>x</sub> Emissions''': 6,209 tons
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| − | *'''2005 Mercury Emissions''': 148 lb.
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| − | In 2007, Brayton Point was the number one point-source polluter in Massachusetts.<ref name="epa07">[http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6d651d23f5a91b768525735900400c28/725675289c4307098525757f005f2f0e!OpenDocument "Community-specific chemical release data available for Massachusetts- New England continues trend of lower releases to air, land, and water",] Environmental Protection Agency Region 1, March 20, 2009.</ref> The plant is the source of 1,743,556 pounds of the 26.7 million pounds of chemicals released in Massachusetts during 2007.<ref name="epa07"/>
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| − | ==Brayton Point ranked 61st on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste==
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| − | In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of [[Coal waste|coal combustion waste]] (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the [[TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill]].<ref name="iss">Sue Sturgis, [http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/01/coals-ticking-timebomb-could-disaster-strike-a-coal-ash-dump-near-you.html "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?,"] Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.</ref> The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.<ref>[http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/ TRI Explorer,] EPA, accessed January 2009.</ref>
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| − | Brayton Point Station ranked number 61 on the list, with 464,254 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.<ref name="iss"/>
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| − | ==Coal Sources==
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| − | In 2008, the Brayton Point Station burned 2,316,800 tons of coal, from [[Colombia and coal|Colombia]], [[Venezuela and coal|Venezuela]], and two sources in the [[United States and coal|United States]]. <ref name="neav">[http://www.appvoices.org/resources/maine-legislation/Data-on-New-England-Power-Plants-Coal-Use-2008.pdf "New England power plants that use coal and where the coal comes from",] "Appalachian Voices", accessed March 30, 2009.</ref>
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| − | *'''Colombia''': 1,365,200 tons, or 58.9% of the coal burned in 2008
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| − | *'''Venezuela''': 454,680 tons, or 19.6%
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| − | *'''United States''': 456,520 tons, or 19.7%
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| − | *'''Logan, West Virginia, United States''': 40,400 tons, or 1.7%
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| − | According to [[iLoveMountains.org]], Brayton Point purchases some coal from companies who practice mountaintop removal mining (MTR), though does not burn coal directly from MTR mines.<ref name="boston">[http://www.ilovemountains.org/myconnection/show_connection.php?zip=02108 "What's my connection?",] ilovemountains.org website, Accessed March 2010.</ref>
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| − | The Colombian coal comes from el Cerrejon and la Loma mines. El Cerrejon is the largest open-pit coal mine in the world.<ref name="acllh">Aviva Chomsky, "Linked Labor Histories: New England, Colombia, and the making of a global working class", Duke University Press, 2008.</ref> The mine began a joint venture between [[Exxon]] and the Colombian government in 1982 but now is a joint venture of [[Anglo American]] (33%), [[Glencore International]] (33%) and [[BHP Billiton]] (33%).<ref name="acllh"/> The U.S. Geological Survey reports that in 2005, 59% of the company's exports went to Europe with a further 22% to North America. <ref name="Torres">Ivette E. Torres, [http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2005/myb3-2005-co.pdf "The Mineral Industry of Colombia"], U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 2007.</ref> Coal imported from Cerrejon to the U.S. is sent to five ports, which are located in Mobile, AL, Jacksonville, FL, Baltimore, MD, Salem, MA, and Somerset, MA. Each of these ports serves a major power station.<ref name="acllh"/> In Salem, MA the destination is Dominion's [[Salem Harbor Station]], and in Somerset, Dominion's Brayton Point station.
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| − | La Loma mine opened in 1985 and is privately-owned by [[Drummond|Drummond Coal]].<ref name="acllh"/> Aside from Brayton Point, coal imported to the U.S. from la Loma mine mainly goes to the Salem Harbor station (Salem, MA) and a plant in Mobile, AL.<ref name="acllh"/> Plants in Newburgh, NY, Savannah, GA, and Tampa, FL also receive coal from la Loma.<ref name="acllh"/> Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also imports large amounts of la Loma's coal.<ref name="acllh"/>
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| − | ===Colombian Coal and Human Rights Violations===
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| − | Colombia's coal mines, like many industries in the country, are filled with stories of displacement and terror. A number of entire communities in the coalfields have been displaced, including Tabaco, a 700-person Afro-Colombian village that was razed in 2001.<ref name="avipho">Aviva Chomsky, [http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/48183-dirty-story-behind-local-energy/ "The dirty story behind local energy",] "The Boston Phoenix", October 1, 2007.</ref> People living near the coalfields have faced malnutrition, diseases such as ringworm, and restricted access to land since the large mines opened up.<ref name="avipho"/>
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| − | The Drummond Company (operator of la Loma mine) has been the subject of numerous lawsuits regarding the murders of 70 union miners and railroad workers, collectively.<ref> International Rights Advocates, [http://www.iradvocates.org/Drummond_Pls%20Opening%20Brief.pdf "Juan Aquas Romero, et al. v. Drummond Company Inc., et al."], Plaintiff's Opening Brief, December 11, 2007. </ref><ref name="flaumcd">[http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS192843+28-May-2009+PRN20090528 "Federal lawsuit alleges U.S. mining company Drummond paid millions to Colombian paramilitary terrorists who killed 67; including "execution" of union leaders",] "Reuters", May 28, 2009.</ref><ref name="cosccmsdc>[http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2009/03/the_children_of_three_coal.html "Children of slain Colombian coal miners sue Drummond Co. in Birmingham federal court",] "Birmingham News", March 20, 2009.</ref> The murdered Colombians were killed by the notorious paramilitary group, United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), which had been hired by Drummond to act as security.<ref name="flaumcd"/> In addition to those killed, a lawsuit against Drummond describes "how hundreds of men, women, and children were terrorized in their homes, on their way to and from work… innocent people killed in or near their homes or kidnapped to never to return home, their spouses and children being beaten and tied up, and people being pulled off buses and summarily executed on the spot."<ref name="flaumcd"/>
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| − | ==Effects on Water==
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| − | The Brayton Point coal-fired power plant is located off the Mount Hope Bay, at the mouth of the Taunton River. Mount Hope Bay rests along Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and feeds into the larger Narragansett Bay. Mount Hope Bay “is a designated estuary of national significance under the federal Clean Water Act.” <ref name="spur">[http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/names/r01_2007-12-17_brayton “Settlement will spur major environmental improvements at Brayton Point power plant",] Environmental Protection Agency website, December 17, 2007.</ref>
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| − | When Brayton Point opened in the 1960s, the plant ran three open-cycle cooling units, which run waste water through one time. <ref name="issue">[http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6d651d23f5a91b768525735900400c28/350c2ad3e01ed983852573f3007d3222!OpenDocument “EPA and MA DEP issue new draft permit to reduce environmental damage to Mount Hope Bay from Brayton Point Power Plant",] Environmental Protection Agency website, July 22, 2002.</ref> In July 1984, one closed-cycle unit was converted to open-cycle. This increased the amount of water withdrawn from the bay for cooling by forty-five percent.<ref name="issue"/> According to the EPA, populations of fish in the Mount Hope Bay began to decline in the early 1970s. Declines accelerated after 1984, coinciding with the change in Brayton Point's water cooling system.<ref name="issue"/> According to the EPA, as of 2002, the station's discharge included "once-through cooling water, metal cleaning waste, low volume waste such as boiler blowdown waste and water treatment wastes, and intake screen sluice water.” <ref name="elimina">[http://www.epa.gov/region1/braytonpoint/pdfs/Braytonfs.pdf “Fact Sheet: Draft National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit to discharge waters of the United States",] Environmental Protection Agency, accessed January 30, 2009</ref>
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| − | Currently, one billion gallons of water is taken in from the Mount Hope Bay, for cooling the plant.<ref name="issue"/> This amount of water is "equivalent to the entire 53 billion gallons of Mount Hope Bay is circulated through the facility seven times a year." <ref name="info">[http://www.epa.gov/region1/braytonpoint/pdfs/finalpermit/braytonpointfactsht2003.pdf “Brayton Point Information Sheet",] Environmental Protection Agency website, October, 2003.</ref> This water taken from the Bay "contains billions of fish eggs, larvae, and juveniles, most or all of which are destroyed when they are pulled into the facility and subjected to severe physical and chemical impacts as well as extreme water temperatures."<ref name="issue"/> Another way the Brayton Point station alters the ecology of Mount Hope Bay is by discharging water that is up to thirty degrees warmer than the Bay's waters.<ref name="issue"/> According to the EPA, as of 2002, the station's discharge included "once-through cooling water, metal cleaning waste, low volume waste such as boiler blowdown waste and water treatment wastes, and intake screen sluice water.”<ref name="elimina"/> Aquatic species that have faced declines include the winter flounder, tautog, hogchoker, and windowpane.<ref name="issue"/> Conversely, "nuisance" species (species that have harmful impacts on aquatic ecosystems) like comb jellies and blue-green algae have flourished.<ref name="issue"/><ref>[http://www.anstaskforce.gov/default.php "ANS Task Force",] Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force website, accessed May 31, 2009.</ref>
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| − | On January 15, 1998, the station's owners, New England Power Company, applied to the Environmental Protection Agency to reissue it's water permit.<ref name="elimina"/> The EPA's New England office and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection spent five years looking into water pollution issues at Brayton Point before issuing a draft water discharge permit for the plant on July 22, 2002.<ref name="issue"/> The permit requires the station to greatly reduce the amount of water withdrawn from the bay and the temperature of discharged water after use. The permit limits the plant's annual heat discharge to 1.7 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) per year, down from 42 trillion BTUs per year, or a 96 percent reduction in heat.<ref name="issue"/> The plant is only allowed to take 56 million gallons of water per day from the Bay, down from 1 billion reduce water (a decrease of 94 percent).<ref name="issue"/> This would bring the Brayton Point station into accordance with the 1972 Clean Water Act. <ref name="final">[http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/a883dc3da7094f97852572a00065d7d8/0b35588451a54383852573dd0003c3bd!OpenDocument “EPA issues final permit to reduce environmental damage to Mount Hope Bay from Brayton Point power plant",] Environmental Protection Agency website, October 6, 2003.</ref> To meet these goals, Brayton Point was ordered to install closed-cycle water cooling towers in all four of its units, which would recycle the water through the units.<ref name="standoff">Boston Globe Editorial Staff, [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/12/17/the_brayton_point_standoff/ “The Brayton Point standoff",] “Boston Globe", December 17, 2006.</ref>
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| − | Brayton's Point previous water permit was issued in the early 1990's and according to Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, is "causing significant violations of Rhode Island’s water quality requirements."<ref name="lose"> [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x428370381 "Brayton Point loses appeal permit"], "Herald News", September 29, 2007] </ref>
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| − | After the draft permit was issued, there was a forty-five day comment period, which was extended an extra month to October 4, 2002.<ref name="issue"/><ref name="info"/> On October 6, 2003, the EPA New England office and MA DEP issued the water permit. <ref name="final"/> The plant owners (US Gen New England, a subsidiary of PG&E National Energy Group) was given thirty days to appeal.<ref name="discharge">[http://www.epa.gov/region1///ra/gb/archives/2003/20031014.html “Green bytes: Discharge permit issues for region’s largest fossil fuel power plant",] Environmental Protection Agency website, October 14, 2003.</ref> On November 5, 2003, US Gen appealed to the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board.<ref name="npdes">[http://www.epa.gov/region1/braytonpoint/index.html “Brayton Point Station: Final NPDES Permit",] Environmental Protection Agency website, accessed January 31, 2009.</ref> Had the company not appealed, it would have had to install the cooling equipment within three or four years (by 2007-2008).<ref name="discharge"/>
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| − | Three years later, on September 27, 2007, the Environmental Appeals Board upheld the EPA's permit.<ref name="npdes"/> The company then appealed the Board's decision to the Federal Court in the Fourth Circuit.<ref name="npdes"/>
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| − | In February 2005, the Appeals Board heard PG&E's appeal and sided with the EPA, while requesting the agency to two technical points of the permit.<ref name="standoff"/><ref name="lose"/> That year, PG&E sold the Brayton Point and Salem Harbor power plants to Dominion Energy.<ref name="standoff"/> On November 30, 2006, the EPA upheld its order.<ref name="standoff"/><ref name="lose"/> Dominion was given through December 2006 to appeal the two points.<ref name="standoff"/><ref name="lose"/> In January 2007, Dominion requested another review from the Appeals Board.<ref name="lose"/> On September 28, 2007, the Board denied this request; this decision put the permit into effect.<ref name="lose"/> Dominion had the option to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.<ref name="lose"/> Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch responded to the Board's September 2007 decision by saying, "The fact that a 95 percent reduction in Brayton Point Station’s impacts to Mount Hope Bay can be achieved with technologies that have been around for decades, and are being used by existing facilities today, speaks volumes about the Stone Age power-generation and environmental-protection technologies used by Brayton Point. Even if it appeals (Friday’s) decision to the appellate court in Boston, Dominion Energy can no longer justify killing Mount Hope Bay to make its shareholders happy."<ref name="lose"/>
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| − | On October 26, 2007, Dominion appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court and also requested a stay that would put off the EPA's decision, the latter of which was granted for until November 30, 2007.<ref name="stand"> Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x676128968 “Group takes stand on Brayton appeal",] “Herald News", October 31, 2007</ref> Dominion filed its appeal with the Court of Appeals in Virginia, where the company is based and incorporated.<ref name="ag">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x676133326 “AG’s office weighs in on Brayton Point appeal",] “Herald News", November 6, 2007</ref> On November 2, 2007, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office filed a motion with the Court, in an attempt to move the case to Boston.<ref name="ag"/>
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| − | Dominion argued that the water system conversion would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars and have a negative impact on the company’s ability to produce and sell electricity."<ref name="stand"/> The EPA says the system would cost $100 million, while former plant owners PG&E have said the cost would be $250 million.<ref name="standoff"/> On April 5, 2009, the "Herald News" reported the cost of the project to be $500 million.<ref name="movin">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x180626267/Plant-moving-forward-with-cooling-towers "Plant moving forward with cooling towers",] "Herald News", April 5, 2009.</ref>
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| − | On December 17, 2007, Dominion Energy Brayton Point LLC settled with the EPA, dropping all appeals around the water permit and agreeing to cease pumping heated water into Mount Hope Bay.<ref name="ink">Grant Welker, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x2128357441 “Brayton Point, EPA ink deal",] “Herald News", December 18, 2007.</ref><ref name="pump">Beth Daley, [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/12/18/plant_to_stop_pumping_water_into_bay/ “Plant to stop pumping water into the bay",] “Boston Globe", December 18, 2007.</ref> Under the agreement reached between the company and agency, Dominion was given thirty-six months to get all necessary permits and approvals; the company had milestone discharge limits to meet before it could receive final approval.<ref name="ink"/> The permitting process was expected to last through March 2009, with construction starting in April 2010.<ref name="big">Grant Welker, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x254751044 “Dominion’s big plans",] “Herald News", January 22, 2008.</ref> Operation is expected to begin in the spring of 2012.<ref name="big"/>
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| − | ===Water Cooling Towers===
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| − | In order to comply with the water permit, Dominion will build two 500-foot-tall water cooling towers.<ref name="big"/><ref name="pump">Beth Daley, [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/12/18/plant_to_stop_pumping_water_into_bay/ “Plant to stop pumping water into the bay",] “Boston Globe", December 18, 2007.</ref> One tower must be completed by 2011; the second by 2012.<ref name="foot">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1414532088 “Power plant to add 450-foot towers",] “Herald News", December 19, 2007.</ref> The towers (measuring 500 feet tall by 360 feet wide at the base by 220 feet wide at the top) will be built on the west side of the plant and will be visible from the town of Newport, RI, twenty-four miles away.<ref name="big"/><ref name="foot"/> The towers will be slightly shorter than the tallest smokestack at the plant, but about ten times wider.<ref name="big"/> Dominion will also build fifty-foot tall walls, seventy feet from the towers, to minimize noise. <ref name="big"/> These updates will cost the company $500 million.<ref name="foot"/><ref name="reduce">[ http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/12/21/dominion_resources_to_reduce_water_use/ “Dominion Resources to reduce water use",] “Boston Globe", December 21, 2007.</ref>
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| − | At a meeting with neighbors about the water-cooling towers on January 22, 2008, feelings from community members were mixed about the height of the towers. <ref name="big"/> Company representative Tom Moss said that Dominion didn't want to build shorter towers because that would risk releasing water vapor low enough to the ground that it might cover the roads and houses in ice during the winter season.<ref name="big"/> Neighbor Kathi Grenn-Silva has noticed some changes in the power plant (for example, she no longer smells sulfur at night), but coal dust still covers her house.<ref name="big"/>
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| − | [[Image:Brayton_point_cooling_towers.jpeg|thumb|right|A Dominion employee with an image of how the new 500-ft cooling towers will look.]]
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| − | On March 30, 2009, Brayton Point got the final permits for the water-cooling towers.<ref name="movin"/> Construction began in May 2009 and is expected to be completed by May 2012.<ref name="tcttts">Jay Pateakos, [http://www.wickedlocal.com/fall-river/news/x1886196210/Brayton-Points-twin-500-foot-cooling-towers-taking-shape",] "Herald News", August 31, 2009.</ref> These towers are the first natural draft cooling towers to be built in the U.S. in over 15 years.<ref name="tcttts"/><ref name"spxprn">[http://www.ulitzer.com/node/1048784 "SPX To Design Natural Draft Cooling Towers For New England's Largest Coal-Fired Power Plant",] PRNewswire, July 27, 2009.</ref>
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| − | Kiewitt Construction Co. of Nebraska is heading construction on the towers.<ref name="tcttts"/> The towers were designed by SDX Corporation's Thermal Equipment and Services; the Charlotte, N.C.-based company was contracted for $30 million.<ref name="spxu">[http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2009/07/27/daily1.html "SPX unit wins $30M contract",] "Charlotte Business Journal", July 27, 2009.</ref> SDX was also hired to design, make, and install the internal heat system for the towers.<ref name="spxu"/> P.J. Keating, a Massachusetts-based stone and asphalt company, was contracted for about 300,000 tons of stone and 3,000 tons of hot-mix asphalt (for roads to the towers) at $4 million.<ref name="pjk4m">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/business/x2121667318/Stone-company-makes-4M-sale "Stone company makes $4M sale",] "Herald News", July 31, 2009.</ref> The stone comes from Aschunet, MA and one use of the stone will be to cap fly ash.<ref name="pjk4m"/>
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| − | Residents of Somerset and surrounding towns have expressed frustrations to Dominion and in a local newspaper about construction of the towers and the towers themselves.<ref name="tcttts"/><ref name="mlee">Mary Lee Griffin, [http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x1919579422/LETTER-Dont-allow-power-plant-to-ruin-our-well-being-02-06-10 "Letter: Don't let power plant to ruin our well-being",] "Herald News", February 6, 2010.</ref> Dominion has received complaints about noise and excessive dust from construction, as well as complaints about the size of the towers.<ref name="tcttts"/> In the local "Herald News", resident Mary Lee Griffin of Swansea articulated concerns that include the general unsightliness of the towers, that they will recreate noise necessitating a fifty-foot sound barrier wall, the potential for the towers to block sunlight in the surrounding areas, and the construction lights that shine into nearby homes throughout the night.<ref name="mlee"/> Griffin expressed general concerns about the plant expansion as part of changes in the peninsula from a place once known for beautiful fields, farms, woods, and beaches, with the plant taking over some of the only remaining open land in the area while continuing to contribute to climate change.<ref name="mlee"/>
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| − | In her passionate letter, Griffin wrote,
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| − | "Have we become so apathetic that we now just passively sit back, silently enduring this coal-burning plant’s continual assaults on our health and well-being?... Have elected officials and environmental agencies taken a good look what’s happening on Brayton Point? Not a passing glance at colorful, schematic drawings of curvy, seemingly innocuous towers rising in the mist, but a long, hard look at the grotesque reality that faces residents in the communities close to Brayton Point, and the Lees and Taunton rivers. How can anyone look at these horrors and say that this is what’s best for this region? With the warming of Mount Hope Bay and the ill effects on marine life, something had to be done, but was there no alternative? What about closing the plant?"<ref name="mlee"/>
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| − | ==Fly Ash==
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| − | The Brayton Point Power Station creates 300,000 tons of [[Coal waste|fly ash]] per year.<ref name="prompts"/> Until the 1980’s, fly ash was dumped in a lined landfill owned by [[National Grid Transco Plc|National Grid]] on Brayton Point Road.<ref name="rough">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1059915079 "Rough riding tough on landfill"] ''Herald News'', March 19, 2008.</ref> In March 2008, erosion from rain and dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles caused a tear in the lining, resulting in approximately 2,500 pounds of fly ash to wash out into a nearby wetland.<ref name="rough"/> <ref name="erosion">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1946822612/ "Landfill erosion being filled-in"] ''Herald News'', May 13, 2008.</ref> Hay bales and plastic silt fences were used to hold fly ash in place until workers with National Grid and the town of Somerset fixed the liner and planted grass.<ref name="rough"/><ref name="erosion"/>
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| − | In 2006, Brayton Point installed a $46 million carbon burn-out unit (CBO) and 40,000 ton storage dome in order to sell fly ash produced at the plant.<ref name="cbo">Headwaters Resources, [http://www.flyash.com/data/upimages/press/Brayton%20Point.pdf "Brayton Point CBO Fly Ash: Quality, consistency, and reliable supply",]</ref><ref name="award"> Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x332636188/ "Brayton Point awarded for its fly ash recycling"] ''Herald News'', September 16, 2008 </ref> The ash reprocessing began commercial operation on August 11, 2006.<ref name="approval">[http://www.mass.gov/dep/air/climate/ghgcbray.pdf "Proposed conditional approval of GHG credit approval",] Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, November 21, 2008.</ref> The fly ash is bought by Headwaters Resources and used as a substitute for Portland cement in concrete and blended cement.<ref name="award"/> In 2007, 98 percent of Brayton Point’s fly ash was reused.<ref name="award"/> The fly ash is trucked off-site in over 30 vehicles a day.<ref name="award"/>
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| − | Post-combustion fly ash retains some carbon, which is an undesirable trait in using fly ash as an ingredient in cement. The CBO (designed and built by [http://www.pmiash.com PMI Ash Technologies, LLC]) decreases carbon content by using natural gas to heat up to 800˚F, causing carbon remnants ignite; the burner is then turned off, and the ignited carbon continues to combust.<ref name="cbo"/> The 40,000 ton fly ash dome is the largest in New England, and one of the largest in the United States.<ref name="cbo"/>
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| − | In 2008, Dominion and PMI Ash Technologies LLC were given Special Recognition by the [[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] Coal Combustion Products Partnership’s awards for Environmental Achievement.<ref name="c2p2">[http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/c2p2/news.htm "C²P² News and Events",] Environmental Protection Agency website, accessed February 4, 2009.</ref> As of 2007, there are three other carbon burn-out units operating in the United States; one is located at Dominion’s [[Chesapeake Energy Center|Chesapeake Power Station]] in Chesapeake, Virginia. <ref name="approval"/>
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| − | ==Impacts of Coal Dust in Somerset==
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| − | On more than one occasion, coal dust from the Brayton Point Station has covered the nearby neighborhood. The coal dust has been carried from the Station while deliveries of coal were unloaded from ships on windy days.<ref name="scycc">Nancy Krause, [http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wpri_somerset_coal_dust_covers_neighborhood "Somerset cars, yards covered in coal",] WPRI, October 30, 2008.</ref><ref name="cdcsn">Melissa Sardelli, [http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/local_wpri_somerset_neighborhood_covered_in_coal_dust_brayton_pt_dominion_energy_plant_20091109_mds "Coal dust covers Somerset neighborhood",] WPRI, November 7, 2009.</ref> On October 29, 2008, coal dust covered nearby Ripley Street where residents reported having coal dust in their homes despite the windows being closed.<ref name="scycc"/> A 45,000 ton shipment of coal was unloaded overnight and the community woke up to the dust the following morning.<ref name="scycc"/>
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| − | The most recent of these incidents was early November 2009, when thirty-six homes were covered.<ref name="cdcsn"/> This was another occasion when residents woke up in the morning to find their neighborhood covered in coal dust.<ref name="cdcsn"/> In a news interview, resident David Gasperini said, "I can clean stuff, but I can't clean our children's lungs, our animals’ lungs and stuff like that. Who knows if 20 or 30 years from now if anybody is going to end up getting any kind of diseases or anything from this stuff."<ref name="cdcsn"/> Dominion blamed an extra-dry shipment of coal combined with winds.<ref name="cdcsn"/> The company said it would no longer unload coal in winds over 15 miles per hour.<ref name="cdcsn"/> Dominion sent insurance adjusters to the affected neighborhood and said they would reimburse the residents for the clean up.<ref name="cdcsn"/>
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| − | ==Greenhouse Gas Initiative==
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| − | On September 25, 2008, the [http://www.rggi.org Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative] (RGGI) held the first mandatory carbon trading auction in the United States.<ref name="bid">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1470915607/ "Brayton Point to bid at allowances auction"] ''Herald News'', July 29, 2008</ref> RGGI is a mandatory, market-based agreement among ten northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, including [[Connecticut and coal|Connecticut]], [[Delaware and coal|Delaware]], [[Maine and coal|Maine]], [[Maryland and coal|Maryland]], Massachusetts, [[New Hampshire and coal|New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey and coal|New Jersey]], [[New York and coal|New York]], [[Rhode Island and coal|Rhode Island]], and [[Vermont and coal|Vermont]].<ref name="rggi">[http://www.rggi.org/home "Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative"] website, accessed February 4, 2009.</ref> Thirty-two major power plants in the region are obligated to participate in a series of online carbon dioxide allowances auctions.<ref name="bid">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1470915607/ "Brayton Point to bid at allowances auction"] ''Herald News'', July 29, 2008.</ref> Of the thirty-two power plants, Brayton Point is the largest.<ref name="bid"/> Dominion bought carbon allowances at the September 2008 carbon auction, where prices started at $1.86 per unit (1 unit = 1 pound of CO₂) and averaged at $3.07 per unit.<ref name="auction"> Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x811426101/ "Dominion buys carbon allowances at first-ever auction"] ''Herald News'', October 8, 2008.</ref>
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| − | On May 10, 2007, Dominion Energy Brayton Point submitted an Application for Certification of Greenhouse Gas Credits to the [http://www.mass.gov/dep Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection] for selling processed coal fly ash.<ref name="approval"/> Brayton Point is applying to receive greenhouse gas credits for the fly ash used as a replacement for Portland cement in concrete, because, the company argues, using fly ash reduces carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be released in the creation of Portland cement.<ref name="approval"/>
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| − | On November 21, 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection announced its proposal for conditional approval of the greenhouse gas credits, followed by a comment period that ended December 31, 2008.<ref name="approval"/> If finalized, credits would be given for the time period starting August 11, 2006, and ending December 31, 2012.<ref name="approval"/> Although the request was not made by Brayton Point until May 2007, the credits would start in August 2006 because that was when Brayton Point’s fly ash carbon burn-out unit began commercial operation. Credits would be based on "an estimate of the emissions that would have occurred if Portland cement were used instead of processed coal ash to manufacture concrete."<ref name="approval"/>
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| − | Dominion Energy Brayton Point claims that "about a ton of greenhouse gas emissions are avoided for every ton of fly ash used in cement production."<ref name="house"/> The Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) proposal would give Brayton Point less than half of the credit the company has requested, and would also require a review in 2010 to determine if Brayton Point should continue receiving the credits.<ref name="house"/> The DEP has proposed to give Brayton Point the following amount of credits:
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| − | *2006 (August – December): 66,771 credits
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| − | *2007 – 2012: 170,429 credits (per year)
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| − | *Total: 1,089,345 credits<ref name="approval"/>
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| − | The [[Conservation Law Foundation]] (CLF) has expressed strong opposition to the proposed approval, because of the difficulty in verifying any actual emissions reductions in this situation. In comments to the MA DEP, Seth Kaplan of CLF wrote: "Bringing one ton of fly ash into the cement feedstock market may or may not displace a ton of Portland cement – and the actual source and greenhouse gas emissions attributable to any displaced Portland cement is literally unknowable. In such a market it is patently absurd to assert that bringing forward one feedstock (fly ash) will have a clear and predictable effect on the use of another feedstock (Portland cement) and therefore will curtail the operation of the production facility that produces that feedstock."<ref name="clfghg">Seth Kaplan, [http://www.clf.org/uploadedFiles/CLF/Programs/Clean_Energy_&_Climate_Change/Air_Pollution/Brayton_Point_Power_Plant/CLF%20Brayton%20ghg%20credit%20comment.pdf "CLF comments on Brayton GHG credits",] Conservation Law Foundation, December 31, 2008.</ref>
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| − | Kaplan also took issue with the DEP finding that the emission reductions to be additional (meaning that Brayton Point is not required to reprocess fly ash to use as a replacement for Portland cement.<ref name="clfghg"/><ref name="approval"/> He argued that the plant began processing fly ash because the company found it to be a profitable way to deal with the ash, a byproduct of burning coal that has been facing increasingly tougher regulations as a solid waste.<ref name="house">Beth Daley, [http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/01/greenhouse_gas_credits_for_reg_1.html "Greenhouse gas credits for region’s largest coal plant",] ''Boston Globe'', January 6, 2009.</ref><ref name="nytgi">[http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/carbon-credit-for-reprocessed-coal-ash/#more-819 "Carbon credit for reprocessed coal ash?",] ''New York Times Green, Inc.'' blog, January 1, 2009.</ref><ref name="clfghg"/>
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| − | ==Mayflower Clean Energy Center==
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| − | On October 2007, Dominion and [[www.greatpointenergy.com|GreatPoint Energy]] of Cambridge, MA announced plans for a coal gasification demonstration plant and research center at the Brayton Point station.<ref name="build">[http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2007/10/22/daily43-GreatPoint-to-build-gasification-plant-in-Somerset.html "GreatPoint to build gasification plant in Somerset",] ''Mass High Tech'', October 25, 2007.</ref><ref name="play">Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x96465632 "Power play"], ''Herald News'', October 24, 2007. </ref> The $37 million project broke ground in February 2008 and began operating in March 2009.<ref name="Gavin">Robert Gavin, [http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/10/25/mass_plant_will_make_natural_gas_from_coal/ "Mass. plant will make natural gas from coal"], ''Boston Globe'', October 25, 2007]</ref><ref name="touts">Jay Pateakos, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1633052280 "Plant touts proposed clean energy facility"], ''Herald News'', October 26, 2007.</ref><ref name="shape"> Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x390621978/ "Coal gasification project beginning to take shape"], ''Herald News'', June 30, 2008.</ref><ref name=" lamo ">Martin LaMonica, [http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10216860-54.html "Where coal and clean tech meet",] Cnet, April 13, 2009.</ref> The plant is a 14-story steel tower with a structure for storing coal and other fuels, and will cover around five acres of Brayton Point’s two hundred and fifty acres.<ref name="touts"/><ref name="shape"/>
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| − | GreatPoint Energy was founded in 2005 and employs over forty people between its Cambridge offices and prototype plant in Illinois.<ref name="play"/><ref name="Gavin"/> The coal gasification project at Brayton Point has been celebrated by government and industry representatives for creating a hundred jobs; it has also been reported that employees working for GreatPoint Energy in Illinois will be relocated to Brayton Point.<ref name="build"/><ref name="Gavin"/><ref name="touts"/>
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| − | Along with coal, GreatPoint Energy’s coal gasification plant will burn petroleum coke and biomass such as wood chips, corn stover, switchgrass, and wood waste.<ref name="build"/><ref name="play"/><ref name="get">Boston Globe Editorial Staff, [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/11/04/getting_to_clean_coal/ "Getting to Clean Coal",] ''Boston Globe'', November 4, 2007.</ref><ref name="shape"> Marc Munroe Dion, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x390621978/ "Coal gasification project beginning to take shape"] ''Herald News'', June 30, 2008.</ref> GreatPoint Energy’s gasification process uses a proprietary catalyst to break down carbon bonds in coal to create methane gas; GreatPoint also intends to capture at least some pollutant byproducts (such as sulfur, mercury, and nitrogen) to sell to chemical makers.<ref name="Gavin"/><ref name="get"/><ref name="shape"/><ref name="dowchem">[http://www.greatpointenergy.com/pdfs/pressreleases/September2007_GPECloses100MillionCapitalRaise.pdf "GreatPoint Energy closes $100 million capital raise co-led by Citi Alternative Investments and Dow Chemical",] GreatPoint Energy press release, September 24, 2007.</ref> Nitrogen might be sold to become ammonia fertilizer in agriculture.<ref name="lamo"/> GreatPoint's long-term plans for carbon is to [[Geosequestration|sequester]] it, a practice that is expensive and largely untested.<ref name="lamo"/> The company's alternate plans is to sell it to gas and oil companies; the carbon would injected into the ground to force the oil and gas out.<ref name="lamo"/> The gas produced at the pilot plant would be used at the Brayton Point station, which can use both coal and gas to produce electricity.<ref name="shape"/>
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| − | GreatPoint Energy was looking at three locations for this project, and came to decide on the Brayton Point station after Governor [[Deval Patrick]] introduced representatives of GreatPoint and Dominion to each other at a roundtable energy discussion at Patrick’s office.<ref name="play"/> <ref name="Gavin"/> The meeting was held in 2007, two weeks after Patrick took office. <ref name="play"/> Other reasons GreatPoint Energy chose Somerset include "access to engineering and technical support at MIT and other universities."<ref name="Gavin"/>
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| − | In 2007, GreatPoint Energy raised "$100 million from investors, one of the industry's biggest venture capital rounds ever," a package put together by Citi Alternative Investments, [[Dow Chemical Company|Dow Chemical Co.]], [[AES|The AES Corp.]], and [[Suncor|Suncor Energy, Inc.]].<ref name="build"/><ref name="Gavin"/><ref name="dowchem"/> GreatPoint will use the $100 million for constructing and operating the Brayton Point facility. In the future, the company plans to build numerous commercial coal gasification plants near potential carbon sequestration sites.<ref name="dowchem"/>
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| − | Local politicians that support the alliance between Dominion Brayton Point and GreatPoint Energy include:
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| − | *Massachusetts State Governor Deval Patrick
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| − | *Massachusetts State Senator Joan Menard (Democrat- Fall River)<ref name="play"/>
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| − | *Massachusetts State Representative Pat Haddad (Democrat- Somerset)<ref name="play"/>
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| − | ==Wind Power==
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| − | In March 2007, Dominion set up a 175-foot-tall meteorological tower to test wind speeds and determine the viability of setting up a wind turbine at the plant.<ref name="Pateakos">Jay Pateakos, [http://www.heraldnews.com/archive/x1575046894 "Dominion weighing wind power",] ''Herald News'', August 1, 2007.</ref> Boreal Renewable Energy Development of Arlington, MA constructed the tower.<ref name="Pateakos"/>
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| − | ==Protests against Brayton Point==
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| − | ===March 1, 2009: Activists rally against coal in Massachusetts===
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| − | In solidarity with the Capital Climate Action on March 2, protests were held in Massachusetts at the Dominion's Salem Harbor and Brayton Point plants, [[NRG Energy|NRG's]] [[Somerset plant]], and [[Northeast Utilities|Northeast Utilities']] [[Mount Tom Station|Mount Tom plant]].<ref name="sgf">[http://www.securegreenfuture.org/coal_rallies "Massachusetts rallying to stop coal!",] Secure Green Future website, accessed March 23, 2009.</ref> In Somerset, seventy-five people rallied in a park within sight of both of the town's coal-fired power plants.<ref name="sgf"/> In Salem, about forty people rallied and speakers, such as Aviva Chomsky, were featured; the event was organized by HealthLink.<ref name="sgf"/> Approximately sixty people gathered at the Mount Tom plant in Holyoke.<ref name="sgf"/>
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| − | ==Citizen Groups==
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| − | * [http://www.assonetriver.com/abac Assonet Bay Action Committee]: A group based in Assonet, MA, where fly ash from Brayton Point was dumped in a landfill. The Assonet Bay Action Committee opposes the development of a 400,000+ square foot shopping area that is planned to be built on top of the closed fly ash landfill.
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| − | *Campaign to Clean Up Brayton Point: Based in Westport, MA, the Campaign to Clean Up Brayton Point has been working to get Brayton Point to adhere to stricter environmental regulations.
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| − | *[[Conservation Law Foundation]]: As the oldest regional environmental advocacy organization in the nation, the Conservation Law Foundation has been involved in efforts to clean up the plant. www.clf.org
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| − | *[http://www.savebay.org Save the Bay]: Save the Bay focuses on education, protection, and restoration projects related to the Narragansett Bay. Based in Providence, RI, the group advocated for stricter restrictions on Brayton Point's water permit.
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| − | ==Articles and Resources==
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| − | ===References===
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| − | {{reflist|2}}
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| − | ===Additional Sources===
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| − | *[http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat2p2.html Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005], Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
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| − | *Environmental Integrity Project, [http://www.dirtykilowatts.org/Dirty_Kilowatts2007.pdf "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants"], July 2007.
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| − | *[http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/fii/fii_query_java.html Facility Registry System], U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
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| − | ===Related SourceWatch Articles===
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| − | *[[Existing U.S. Coal Plants]]
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| − | *[[Massachusetts and coal]]
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| − | *[[Dominion]]
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| − | *[[United States and coal]]
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| − | *[[West Virginia and coal]]
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| − | *[[Colombia and coal]]
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| − | *[[Venezuela and coal]]
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| − | *[[Global warming]]
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| − | ===External Articles===
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| − | [[Category:United States]]
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| − | [[Category:Corporations]]
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| − | [[Category:Environment]]
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| − | [[Category:Energy]]
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| − | [[Category:Climate change]]
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| − | [[Category:Existing coal plants in the United States]]
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| − | [[Category:Existing coal plants in Massachusetts]]
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| − | [[Category:Synfuels]]
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| − | [[Category:Massachusetts]]
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