Health Risks Associated With the Proposed 750 MW CoalFired Power Plant in Tyrone, WI

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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

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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?

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Health Risks
http//geology.usgs.gov/connections/bia/rs-health-
effects.htm
http//www.umwa.org/booksetc/books.shtml
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Sources of Health Risks From the Proposed Facility

• Coal mining
• Mine waste
• Coal transportation
• Site destruction and construction activities
• Power plant emissions
• Waste handling (notably bottom and fly ash)

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Clean Air Task Force http//www.catf.us/publicati
ons/reports/Cradle_to_Grave.pdf
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Coal Mining
http//www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal
/007/43.html
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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.

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Coal Mine Waste
http//www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal
/008/
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Coal-Fired Power Plant Emissions
Ron Schmitt / AP file / http//www.msnbc.msn.com/i
d/5174391/
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Toxicants Emitted From Coal Plants
http//casahome.org/uploads/EPT_INFOWSBrown.PDF
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(No Transcript)
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Clean Air Task Force http//www.catf.us/publicati
ons/reports/Cradle_to_Grave.pdf
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Annual Air Emissions from a Coal-Fired Power
Plant (Lakeviewa)
ahttp//www.irr-neram.ca/about/May201920Workshop
/Monica20Campbell20talk.ppt280,35,Some Policy
Questions of Local Significance
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Human Exposure
http//pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/epados/mercbuild/im
ages/exposure.jpg
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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).

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http//casahome.org/uploads/EPT_INFOWSBrown.PDF
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Mercury Exposure
http//www.epa.gov/mercury/pics/exposurea.gif
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Risk Complexities
http//casahome.org/uploads/EPT_INFOWSBrown.PDF
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Realistic Health Risk Estimates

• Within the electric power industry, coal-fired
  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.

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• 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).

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Studies of Health Risks

• Neurotoxicology. 1996 Spring17(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.

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• 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.
  kyilmaz_at_ksu.edu.trThis 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
  analysisshowed 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.

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• J Epidemiol Community Health. 1997
  Jun51(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
  systems-environmental, 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.

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• Eur J Epidemiol. 1989 Mar5(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.

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• Arch Environ Health. 1983 Nov-Dec38(6)325-30.
• Health effects of air pollution due to coal
  combustion in the Chestnut Ridge Region of
  Pennsylvania results of cross-sectional 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.

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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.

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• 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.

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For More Information

• Crispin Pierce
• piercech_at_uwec.edu
• [phone]