View source for Mitchell Steam Generating Plant (Georgia)

{{#badges: CoalSwarm| Climate change}}
'''Mitchell Steam Electric Generating Plant''' is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by [[Southern Company]] near Albany, Georgia.

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31.444556, -84.134722 
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{{#evp:youtube|OJeCK6IqHLg|Biomass Conversion at Mitchell Plant.|right|200}}

On March 19, 2009, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a request from Georgia Power to convert the coal-fired power plant to burn woody biomass. When the transition is completed, Mitchell will be the first biomass plant in the fleet of Georgia Power's parent [[Southern Company]] and "the largest biomass facility in the United States," according to Southern COO Tom Fanning.<ref>Joseph Romm, [http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2009/3/18/162419/878 Biomassive plans: Southern Company embraces the only affordable way to 'capture' emissions at a coal plant today], Grist, March 19, 2009.</ref>

==Plant Data==
*'''Owner''': [[Georgia Power]] Company
*'''Parent Company''': [[Southern Company]]
*'''Plant Nameplate Capacity''': 163 MW (Megawatts)
*'''Units and In-Service Dates''': 163 MW (1964)
*'''Location''': 5200 Radium Springs Rd., Albany, GA 31705
*'''GPS Coordinates''': 31.444556, -84.136722
*'''Coal Consumption''':
*'''Coal Sources (2009)'''<ref>[http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/eia906_920.html Energy Information Administration Form 923 for 2009]</ref>
** [[Alliance Resource Partners|Alliance Resource Cave Branch]] (Kentucky)
** [[CONSOL Energy|CONSOL Energy Motts Branch]] (Kentucky)

==Emissions Data==
*'''2006 CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions''': 679,638 tons
*'''2006 SO<sub>2</sub> Emissions''': 
*'''2006 SO<sub>2</sub> Emissions per MWh''':
*'''2006 NO<sub>x</sub> Emissions''': 
*'''2005 Mercury Emissions''':

===Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Mitchell Plant===

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to [[Particulates and coal|fine particle pollution]] from coal-fired power plants.<ref>[http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/files/The_Toll_from_Coal.pdf "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source,"] Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.</ref> Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of [[soot]], [[Heavy metals and coal|heavy metals]], [[Sulfur dioxide and coal|sulfur dioxide]], and [[Nitrogen oxide|nitrogen oxides]]. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's [[External costs of coal|external costs]], i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. [[Coal plants near residential areas|Low-income and minority populations]] are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.<ref>[http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/files/Abt-Technical_Support_Document_for_the_Powerplant_Impact_Estimator_Software_Tool.pdf "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool,"] Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010</ref>

====Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Mitchell Plant====

{| class="wikitable"
!width="120"| Type of Impact!! width="120" | Annual Incidence !! width = "120" | Valuation
|-
| Deaths||align="right" |10||align="right" |$72,000,000 
|-
| Heart attacks||align="right" |14||align="right" |$1,500,000 
|-
| Asthma attacks||align="right" |160||align="right" |$8,000 
|-
| Hospital admissions||align="right" |7||align="right" |$160,000 
|-
| Chronic bronchitis||align="right" |6||align="right" |$2,600,000 
|-
| Asthma ER visits||align="right" |10||align="right" |$4,000 
|}

Source: [http://www.catf.us/coal/problems/power_plants/existing/ "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution,"] Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

==Legislative issues==
'''House Bill 276''', proposed by Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), would put a 5-year moratorium on building new coal plants and eliminate the burning of Appalachian coal mined by [[Mountaintop removal|mountaintop removal]] by mid-2016. The Appalachian Mountain Preservation Act would gradually prohibit Georgia coal consumers from using Central Appalachian mountaintop removal beginning in 2011. The bill is backed by environmental groups including [[Appalachian Voices]] but received strong opposition from [[POWER4Georgians]], a coalition of 10 electric co-operatives seeking to build a $2 billion 850-megawatt supercritical [[Washington Plant|coal plant in Washington County]].<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/behindTheScenes/idUKTRE5130E720090204 "Georgia bill proposes moratorium on new coal plants,"] Reuters, February 4, 2009.</ref><ref>Margaret Newkirk, [http://www.ajc.com/services/content/business/stories/2009/02/04/legcoal0204.html "Bill would restrict coal power plants,"] ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', February 4, 2009.</ref>

==Citizen groups==
{{#evp:youtube|QAWk8194D3U|Focus the Nation: Valdosta State University|right|300}}
*[http://cleanpower4georgians.com/ CleanPower4Georgians]
*[http://www.facenvironment.org/ Fall-line Alliance for Clean Environment]
*[http://www.focusthenation.org/ Focus the Nation]
*[[Friends of the Chattahoochee]]
*[[GreenLaw]]
*[http://georgia.sierraclub.org/ Sierra Club Georgia Chapter]
*[http://www.co-opconversations.org/UnitedStates/Georgia/ Co-op Conversations Georgia]
*[http://www.cobbemcwatch.org/ Cobb Alliance for Smart Energy]

==Articles and Resources==
===Sources===
<references/>
*[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.
*Environmental Integrity Project, [http://www.dirtykilowatts.org/Dirty_Kilowatts2007.pdf "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants"], July 2007.
*[http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/fii/fii_query_java.html Facility Registry System], U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
*[http://carma.org/dig Carbon Monitoring for Action database], accessed Feb. 2009.

===Related SourceWatch Articles===
*[[Existing U.S. Coal Plants]]
*[[Coal plant conversion projects]]
*[[Georgia and coal]]
*[[Southern Company]]
*[[United States and coal]]
*[[Global warming]]

===External Articles===


[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Corporations]]
[[Category:Environment]]
[[Category:Energy]]
[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Existing coal plants in the United States]]
[[Category:Existing coal plants in Georgia]]
[[Category:Georgia]]