Analysis

New EPA Data: I&M Facility 2nd Most Toxic Power Plant in Indiana


New information highlights public health cost of I&M’s $6 billion plan to keep burning coal at AEP-Rockport

ROCKPORT, Ind. –(ENEWSPF)–February 2, 2016.   Indiana & Michigan Power’s AEP-Rockport coal-burning power plant dumped nearly 6 million pounds of toxic pollution into Indiana’s air, land and water in 2014, according to an analysis released today of data reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The new information raises serious concerns regarding the public health threats Hoosiers face for the next 20 years, since I&M has filed plans with the State of Indiana to spend more than $6 billion to keep burning coal at AEP-Rockport until 2035 and beyond. I&M rejected a lower-cost plan that would shutter half the plant by 2022 and invest instead in solar, wind and energy efficiency.

The Sierra Club’s analysis shows that total 2014 toxic emissions from I&M’s AEP-Rockport coal-burning plant in Spencer County was twice the combined toxic emissions from all industries located in the four largest counties I&M serves: Allen, St. Joseph, Elkhart and Delaware counties.

The AEP-Rockport power plant is located along the Ohio River in Southern Indiana, near the Spencer County city of Rockport and 20 miles from Santa Claus, Indiana.

“As a pediatrician who grew up in this coal region, I now realize it is a pollution sacrifice zone.  The consequences of coal-fired energy are distorted by white-washed statistics and ineffective management by Indiana government. It’s irresponsible for Indiana Michigan Power to  continue to waste billions of dollars on this dirty, outdated coal plant when we know that it is harming health and draining resources,” said Dr. Norma Kreilein, a pediatrician based in Washington, Indiana.

“As an I&M customer in Northern Indiana, I am appalled at the amount of toxic devastation that is threatening the health of our neighbors in Southern Indiana,” said Steve Francis, Chair of the Sierra Club’ Hoosier Chapter. “All of us should demand that I&M reduce toxic emissions by retiring the Rockport plant and investing in clean energy such as wind, solar and energy efficiency in northern Indiana where its customers live and work.”

Chemicals reported by industry to EPA through the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) are those that cause cancer or other chronic and severe human health problems or significant environmental damage, including lead, arsenic and damaging acids.

According to the 2014 TRI data released this month, the AEP-Rockport coal-burning power plant released 5.9 million pounds of toxic pollution in 2014, making it the second most toxic power plant in Indiana and eighth largest toxic polluter among electric power plants nationwide. The plant has now released more than 5 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Indiana’s air, land and water every year since 2005. The Clean Air Task Force has also estimated that pollution from I&M’s AEP-Rockport coal-fired power plant contributes to an astounding 130 premature deaths, 200 heart attacks, and 2,200 asthma attacks every year.

The chart below shows the total toxic emissions from I&M’s AEP-Rockport coal-fired power plant since 2000.

The chart below shows the total toxic industrial emissions from I&M’s AEP-Rockport coal-fired power plant in 2014 compared to the total county-wide industrial emissions from the four largest counties in the I&M service territory.

I&M’s 20-year energy plan, which is under review by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, seeks to continue pouring customers’ hard-earned money into a dangerous and polluting coal-burning plant rather than a lower-cost plan that would shutter one half of the AEP-Rockport plant by 2022, cut toxic pollution in half and cut I&M’s carbon pollution by nearly 60 percent compared to 2012 levels.

“The 2014 Toxic Release data just confirms what we’ve known all along: continuing to burn coal at the AEP-Rockport plant will keep polluting our community.  The amount of pollution coming from this facility is threatening people’s health in Spencer County and surrounding communities,” said Chuck Botsko, a Spencer County resident.

“Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently ranked Indiana 50th for having the most toxic air in the US, with the most harmful zone in southwestern Indiana, where we also have special education rates as high as 26.74%. The well-documented neurological harm, especially in children, from continual exposure to these chemicals cannot continue to be downplayed or ignored here by our leaders. We owe our youth a future that embraces the precautionary principle, leaving them a safer, healthier home,” said Rock Emmert,  a teacher at Forest Park Jr.-Sr. High School in Ferdinand, Indiana.

The Toxic Release Inventory established the public’s right to know what is being released into their community by large industries, so they can encourage companies to improve environmental performance.

EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory tracks certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment. U.S. industrial facilities must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment. A “release” of a chemical means that it is emitted to the air or water, or placed in some type of land disposal.

Source: http://www.sierraclub.org


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