Ohio and coal

{{#badges: Climate change |CoalSwarm}}

Introduction

Ohio coal mines produced 22.7 million tons of coal in 2006 (2.0% of the U.S. total), making Ohio the 14th-biggest coal-producing state in the country. Ohio employed 2,413 coal miners in 2006, of whom 76% were non-unionized.

Ohio had 119 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 23,825 MW of capacity - representing 64.9% of the state's total electric generating capacity, and making Ohio the biggest coal energy producing state in the U.S. In 2006, Ohio's coal-fired power plants produced 125.5 million tons of CO₂, 941,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 220,000 tons of nitrogen oxide; coal-fired power plants were responsible for 47.3% of the state's total CO₂ emissions. (To put this emissions total in perspective, Ohio's coal-fired power plants emitted almost as much CO₂ in 2006 as was emitted by all sources in the entire continent of South America.) In 2005, Ohio emitted 23.2 tons of CO₂ per person, somewhat higher than the U.S. average.

In May 2010 the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report titled, Burning Coal, Burning Cash: Ranking the States that Import the Most Coal. In the paper the group reported that Ohio was the fifth most coal dependent state in the country, spending $1.5 billion on coal imports in 2008.

History

Ohio's coal reserves are concentrated in the southeastern part of the state (which is also the poorest part of the state). In 1992, Ohio's estimated recoverable coal reserves totaled 11.8 billion tons.

Ohio's coal mines began exporting coal by barge to other states in 1827. In the subsequent decades, railroads and canals opened up new markets in other states, and by 1875 the state's annual coal production totaled 5 million tons; by 1889 was producing 10 million tons of coal each year, and was the third-biggest coal producing state in the country. In 1918, the state's coal production peaked at 46 million tons; Ohio's coal industry declined in subsequent decades. The 1960's witnessed a dramatic revitalization of Ohio's coal industry, and production climbed from around 32 million tons in 1960 to 55.4 million tons in 1970. However, the passage of the Clean Air Act was a massive blow to Ohio's coal industry, which produces primarily higher-sulfur coal; production declined to 39.4 million tons in 1980, 30.4 million tons in 1992, and 22.7 million tons in 2006.

Citizen activism

July 7, 2008: Earth First! Activists lockdown at American Municipal Power headquarters in Columbus, OH

On July 7, 2008, approximately 75 Earth First! activist gathered outside American Municipal Power (AMP) headquarters in Columbus, Ohio to protest the company's plan to build a new 960 MW coal-fired power plant in Meigs County, Ohio. Two protesters climbed flag poles in front of the building and hoisted banners that read “No New Coal!” and “We won’t stop until you do”. Around 20 activists entered the building and occupied the lobby as five protesters locked themselves down using chains. Police used pepper-spray on the protesters and arrested eight when they refused to leave.

June 29, 2009: More than 700 people turn out against carbon sequestration project in Greenville, OH

More than 700 people attended a meeting organized by opponents of a proposed $92.8 million carbon capture and storage project in Greenville. The project would inject carbon dioxide from a nearby ethanol plant more than 3,000 feet underground. The group included local residents, activists, and politicians. A representative of the Ohio Environmental Council commented that he had "rarely seen a community that well organized and that strong."

March, 2010: Ohio Citizen Action and coal ash

In a push for federal regulation of coal ash, Ohio Citizen Action organized a letter-writing drive as part of a community activism nationwide effort targeted at the White House. In October 2009, the EPA proposed regulating coal ash, due to multiple reports citing its hazardous effects, but the proposal has stalled in the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Elisa Young, who lives in Meigs County, Ohio, wrote that there are four coal-fired power plants within 11.5 miles of her home and asked OIRA Director Cass Sunstein, “Where is the justice in allowing a community already saturated in coal waste and with these kinds of health statistics to continue to bear the brunt of this burden with no regulatory oversight?”

Lake Shore Plant and Environmental Justice

The #evp parser function was deprecated in EmbedVideo 2.0. Please convert your parser function tag to #ev.

FirstEnergy's Lake Shore Plant is in the Glenville community of Cleveland, Ohio, near Lake Erie and in close proximity to a large population of low income African Americans. Within a three mile radius of the plant, 85% of the 100,000 plus residents are African Americans with an average income of $10,000 per year, raising issues around environmental justice and coal. Lake Shore is among over 100 coal plants near residential areas.

Legislative issues

A new bill introduced to the Ohio Senate in November 2008 would strip the Ohio EPA of its authority to limit water pollution from coal mines. Senate Bill 386 would give the power to grant water pollution variances to mining officials with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Senator Timothy Grendell, R-Chesterland, sponsored the bill. Environmental groups are concerned that the bill is intended to help one particular mining company, Murray Energy Corp., build a 1.85 billion-gallon coal slurry pond in Belmont County. The EPA denied the company's permit, saying that coal slurry would threaten a nearby creek, which is home to the endangered eastern hellbender salamander.

AEP raises rates in Ohio

On March 18, 2009, the Ohio PUC approved rate increases for two AEP companies, but the hikes are only about half of of what the utility had requested. Columbus Southern Power customers will face a maximum increase of 7 percent in 2009 and 6 percent in both 2010 and 2011. Ohio Power customers will face a maximum increase of 8 percent in 2009, 7 percent in 2010, and 8 percent in 2011.

AMP applies for state loan for Meigs County plant

In February 2009, American Municipal Power requested a $30 million loan from money set aside by state lawmakers for advanced-energy projects. The loan would help the company build its proposed coal plant in Meigs County, OH.

Environmental groups contend that the company should not qualify for the low-interest loan, arguing that the proposed plant is too similar to older Ohio plants, and that the scrubber system will not reduce the plant's estimated 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Although state officials have not yet approved the loan, they and AMP say the proposed plant qualifies, because it would use a more advanced scrubber to capture other pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

American Municipal Power to Close Gorsuch Plant by 2012

On May 18, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department announced that American Municipal Power - Ohio (AMP) would be permanently retiring the Marietta, Ohio Richard H. Gorsuch Generating Station by Dec. 31, 2012, under a settlement to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review requirements. Interim sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission limits will be implemented until that date. Also part of the settlement, AMP will spend $15 million on an environmental mitigation project and pay a civil penalty of $850,000.

Proposed coal plants

The #evp parser function was deprecated in EmbedVideo 2.0. Please convert your parser function tag to #ev.

In construction or operating

• Haverhill Cogeneration Station, Haverhill, OH

Active

• Atlantic Energy Ventures gasification plant, Lawrence County, OH
• Ohio River Clean Fuels, Wellsville, OH

Abandoned, cancelled, or on hold

• American Municipal Power Generating Station, Letart Falls, OH
• Ashtabula IGCC Generating Facility, Ashtabula, OH
• Dominion Energy plant, Conneaut, OH
• Great Bend IGCC, Great Bend, OH
• Lima Energy, Lima, OH

Citizen groups

• Cleveland Climate Watch
• Counter Coalture Coalition
• EarthWatch Ohio
• Meigs Citizens Action Now
• Ohio Citizen Action
• Ohio Environmental Council
• Sierra Club Ohio Chapter

Coal power companies

• American Electric Power
  • Headquarters in Columbus, OH
  • Owner of AEP Ohio, Columbus Southern Power, and Cardinal Operating Co.
  • 2nd biggest coal energy producer in U.S.
  • Controls 52 coal-fired generating stations with 26,595 MW total capacity
  • Active proposals: Wise County Plant, Hempstead, Great Bend IGCC, FutureGen
• Cinergy
  • Headquarters in Cincinnati, OH
  • Owned by Duke Energy
  • Owner of Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company
  • 5th biggest coal energy producer in U.S., if independent company
  • Controls 32 coal-fired generating stations with 10,970 MW total capacity
• FirstEnergy
  • Headquarters in Akron, OH
  • 13th biggest coal energy producer in U.S.
  • Controls 25 coal-fired generating stations with 8005 MW total capacity
• DPL
  • Headquarters in Dayton, OH
  • Owner of Dayton Power & Light
  • 24th biggest coal energy producer in U.S.
  • Controls 11 coal-fired generating stations with 3521 MW total capacity
• Ohio Valley Electric Corporation
  • Headquarters in Piketon, OH
  • Owned by American Electric Power, FirstEnergy, and five other companies
  • 37th biggest coal energy producer in U.S.
  • Controls 11 coal-fired generating stations with 2389 MW total capacity
• American Municipal Power - Ohio
  • Headquarters in Columbus, OH
  • Controls 4 coal-fired generating stations with 200 MW total capacity
  • Active proposals: American Municipal Power Generating Station
• Global Energy
  • Headquarters in Cincinnati, OH
  • Active proposals: Lima Energy
• Reliant Energy
• Baard Energy

Existing coal plants

Ohio had 119 coal-fired generating units at 35 locations in 2005, with 23,825 MW of capacity - representing 64.9% of the state's total electric generating capacity, and making Ohio the biggest coal energy producing state in the U.S.

Click on the locations shown on the map for plant details:

Here is a list of coal power plants in Ohio with capacity over 400 MW:

Plant Name	County	Owner	Year(s) Built	Capacity	2007 CO2 Emissions	2006 SO2 Emissions	SO2/MW Rank
Gavin	Gallia	American Electric Power	1974, 1975	2600 MW	18,700,000 tons	24,787 tons	222
W.H. Sammis	Jefferson	FirstEnergy	1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1971	2456 MW	13,800,000 tons	86,392 tons	81
J.M. Stuart	Adams	DPL	1970, 1971, 1972, 1974	2441 MW	13,400,000 tons	103,649 tons	54
Conesville	Coshocton	American Electric Power	1962, 1973, 1976, 1978	1891 MW	9,060,000 tons	90,540 tons	30
Cardinal	Jefferson	American Electric Power	1967, 1977	1880 MW	10,100,000 tons	86,880 tons	49
Muskingum River	Washington	American Electric Power	1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1968	1529 MW	7,299,000 tons	122,984 tons	2
W.H. Zimmer	Clermont	Duke Energy	1991	1426 MW	8,597,000 tons	22,054 tons	200
Miami Fort	Hamilton	Duke Energy	1949, 1960, 1975, 1978	1378 MW	7,546,000 tons	62,028 tons	36
Eastlake	Lake	FirstEnergy	1953, 1954, 1956, 1972	1257 MW	6,355,000 tons	82,705 tons	34
Walter C. Beckjord	Clermont	Duke Energy	1952, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1969	1221 MW	6,330,000 tons	62,480 tons	28
Kyger Creek	Gallia	American Electric Power and FirstEnergy	1955	1086 MW	7,326,000 tons	67,157 tons	38
Avon Lake	Lorain	Reliant Energy	1949, 1970	766 MW	2,574,000 tons	43,479 tons	11
Killen	Adams	DPL	1982	666 MW	4,258,000 tons	22,825 tons	83
R.E. Burger	Belmont	FirstEnergy	1944, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1955	541 MW	1,635,000 tons	62,558 tons	N/A
Bay Shore	Lucas	FirstEnergy	1959, 1963, 1968	499 MW	3,979,000 tons	15,207 tons	140
O.H. Hutchings	Montgomery	DPL	1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953	414 MW	597,000 tons	3,530 tons	N/A

These 16 plants represent 92.6% of Ohio's coal energy generating capacity, 45.8% of the state's total CO₂ emissions, and 48.6% of its total SO₂ emissions.

Proposed coal unit retirements

September 2010: FirstEnergy to close four plants

On August 12, 2010, FirstEnergy announced it will throttle back power production at four of its smaller, coal-burning power plants, beginning in September and continuing for three-years. The company cited the lackluster economy, low demand for power, and pending federal rules tightening emission standards. The plants are the Lake Shore Plant in Cleveland, OH, all but the largest boiler at the Eastlake Power Plant in Lake County, OH, the Ashtabula Plant, and three of four boilers at the Bay Shore Plant near Toledo, OH. The largest Bay Shore unit, which burns petroleum coke from the nearby BP/Husky oil refinery, will continue operating. The four power plants have not been running flat out for some time; instead, the company has kept them in reserve, ramping up production as needed. Altogether the power plants have a total generating capacity of 1,620 megawatts, they accounted for less than 7 percent of total production in 2009. One megawatt is 1 million watts and enough electricity to power about 800 homes. FirstEnergy said the slowdown will reduce operating costs but could force the company to write off $287 million in the value of its assets, reducing third quarter earnings by 59 cents per share.

November 2010: FirstEnergy to close Burger Plant units 4 and 5

According to a Nov. 17, 2010 report from Power-Gen Worldwide, FirstEnergy is planning to permanently shut down two coal-fired units, Units 4 and 5, at the Burger Plant by the end of the year. The units were included in the 2005 Consent Decree settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and FirstEnergy had the option to re-power, install scrubbers, or shut down the units as part of an effort to reduce the company's sulfur dioxide emissions. Rather than refit the Burger plant units, First Energy will complete a $1.8 billion retrofit at its Sammis Plant in Stratton, Ohio, according to the report.

Coal Mines

The #evp parser function was deprecated in EmbedVideo 2.0. Please convert your parser function tag to #ev.

Click here for a list of coal mines in Ohio.

Major coal mines

Mine Name	Location	Owner	2006 Production
Century Mine	Alledonia, OH	Murray Energy	6,451,000 tons
Powhatan No. 6 Mine	Alledonia, OH	Murray Energy	4,370,000 tons

Coal waste

EPA releases list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps

In response to demands from environmentalists as well as Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the EPA made public a list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal waste dumps. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not include an assessment of the likelihood of such an event. Ohio has 6 of the sites, all of which are owned by American Electric Power.

The following table is derived from EPA's official list of Coal Combustion Residue (CCR) Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings. To see the full list of sites, see Coal waste.

Company	Facility Name	Unit Name	Location
American Electric Power	Cardinal Plant	Fly Ash Reservoir 2	Brilliant, OH
American Electric Power	Gavin Plant	Fly Ash Pond	Cheshire, OH
American Electric Power	Gavin Plant	Bottom Ash Pond	Cheshire, OH
American Electric Power	Muskingum River Plant	Unit 5 Bottom Ash Pond (Lower Fly Ash Pond)	Waterford, OH
American Electric Power	Muskingum River Plant	Upper Fly Ash Pond	Waterford, OH
American Electric Power	Muskingum River Plant	Middle Fly Ash Pond	Waterford, OH

Coal ash ponds in Ohio

Ohio coal plants store billions of gallons of toxic coal combustion waste in ponds that are largely unregulated by federal and state authorities. Nine of the 13 plants in the state rely on dams to contain the waste in these ponds, which can hold up to 9.1 billion gallons of water and coal ash. After the disastrous coal ash spill in Tennessee, Ohio government and utility officials said they believe the dams at the ponds are sound. According to state records, however, many of the dams at smaller ponds have not been inspected in over ten years.

According to a 2006 report by the EPA and DOE, Ohio power plants produced almost 7 million tons of coal ash in 2004, about 40 percent of which was stored in 300 ponds. The remainder was discarded in landfills or reused in other products, such as cement and drywall.

Environmental groups hope the Tennessee spill will spur Congress to create strict regulations.

The #evp parser function was deprecated in EmbedVideo 2.0. Please convert your parser function tag to #ev.

In August 2010, Ohio Citizen Action released a video entitled “Coal Ash in Ohio” to "highlight the problems and risks of toxic coal waste in Ohio." Coal ash is not currently regulated and Ohio is one of 29 states that does not require coal ash landfills and wet ponds to be monitored. Coal ash is disposed of in landfills and wet ponds, and some of the coal ash waste is used in consumer products ranging from bowling balls and building products to cosmetics and toothpaste.

The video is in response to the EPA considering two competing proposed regulations to begin regulating coal ash. The federal comment period for the proposed regulations runs through November 19, 2010 and there will be seven public hearings that run August 30-September 28, 2010.

August 2010 study: Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination

In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Ohio, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that is not currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites. The report mentioned Ohio based Cardinal Plant, Gavin Plant, Industrial Excess Landfill Superfund Site and the Muskingum River Plant as all having groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.

October 2010: Coal slurry leak

On October 1, 2010, an underground pipeline from Murray Energy's American Century Mine sprung a leak in Belmont County, sending coal slurry into the Captina Creek. The leak is a potential health risk because coal slurry contains mercury, lead, iron, manganese, cadmium, and other heavy metals that are carcinogenic and toxic to human health. The Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) estimates the spill at about one quarter of a million gallons. According to the OEC, 7 leaks were found in Murray Energy's impoundment pond and two were in the pipeline, one in 2005 and then this 2010 spill. The 2005 pipeline spill cost Murray Energy $50,000 dollars in fines for killing thousands of fish and polluting a half mile of the same creek. In this spill, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division Spokesman Mike Shelton said, "so far 3500 fish and 850 other salamander, crayfish and frogs died in the creek."

"The question is why does this keep happening, why does this company seem unwilling to change the way it does business?" said Nachy Kanfer, Spokesman for the Sierra Club, referring to Murray Energy's practice of pumping slurry through a pipeline only to be stored in a slurry pond indefinitely. Murray Energy was denied a permit to build a new slurry pond in 2008 by the Ohio EPA, now they have applied again for another permit to build a pond. The spill is believed to have been caused by an underground break.

Study finds dangerous level of hexavalent chromium at Ohio coal waste site

A report released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011 stated that there are many health threats associated with a toxic cancer-causing chemical found in coal ash waste called hexavalent chromium. The report specifically cited 29 sites in 17 states where the contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash and included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin. In Ohio, the Conesville Power Plant in Coshocon County and Industrial Excess Landfill in Uniontown were reported as having high levels of chromium seeping into groundwater.

According to the report, the Conesville Power Plant coal ash site is a landfill. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was reported at the site at 100 ppb (parts per billion) - 5,000 times the proposed California drinking water goals and above the federal drinking water standard.

As a press release about the report read:

Hexavalent chromium first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium. Now new information indicates that the chemical has readily leaked from coal ash sites across the U.S. This is likely the tip of the iceberg because most coal ash dump sites are not adequately monitored.

According to the report, the electric power industry is the leading source of chromium and chromium compounds released into the environment, representing 24 percent of releases by all industries in 2009.

Alternative energy projects

In 2008, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signed SB 211, a renewable portfolio standard bill requiring that 25 percent of all energy consumed in Ohio to come from renewable energy sources by 2025. One-half percent of that figure must come from solar power.

Solar power project at old coal mine site

A solar energy installation is slated for construction at the site of an old coal mine in southeast Ohio. The plant is named “Turning Point” and will feature a 239,400-solar panel array with a total generating capacity of 49.9 megawatts (MW). According to CNN, the plant will be adjacent to a 10,000-acre conservation area known as The Wild, which is home to several animals that are on the endangered species list. The project is designed to help the state meet SB 211, a bill requiring that 25 percent of all energy consumed in Ohio to come from renewable energy sources by 2025.

New Harvest Ventures and Agile Energy will build the plant, while American Electric Power (AEP) will purchase the electricity through a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The project is expected to create 300 new jobs and, it is hoped, will generate interest in renewable energy-related education and manufacturing activities throughout the region.

When announcing the new plant, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland took care to note that two Spanish manufacturing companies will soon open facilities in Ohio to help construct the Turning Point array. According to solar.com: "to get the Spanish companies to open shop in Ohio, Gov. Strickland took a page out of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s playbook, signing an executive order doing away with the state’s personal property tax and real property tax for renewable energy facilities."

2010: Ohio Power Siting Board approves Five Wind Farm Projects

In an April 2008 unanimous vote, the Ohio legislature passed a state renewable portfolio standard bill requiring 25 percent of Ohio's energy to be generated from alternative and renewable sources, of which half or 12.5 percent must derive from renewable sources.

In March 2010, the Ohio Power Siting Board Monday approved three separate projects in western Ohio after about a year of review and hearings. The three will have a total generating capacity of nearly 500 megawatts.

The project proposed by Cleveland-based JW Great Lakes Wind, a subsidiary of German wind developer Juwi GmbH, is in Hardin County and would include up to 27 wind turbines with a total capacity of 48 megawatts. Juwi plans to begin construction of the Hardin County wind farm in 2010 and start commercial operation in mid-2011. A second Hardin County project will be built by Chicago-based Invenergy Wind LLC, and would contain up to 200 wind turbines with a total capacity of 300 megawatts. It would be built in phases and include a transformer substation, interconnection substation, underground electricity collection system, and about 30 miles of roads. The third project, the Buckeye Wind Farm, will be in Champaign County, and built by New York City-based EverPower. The Buckeye Wind Farm would include about 50 wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 135 megawatts. EverPower hopes to begin construction later in 2010.

As of the March decision, the siting board was still reviewing three additional wind farm projects.

In August 2010, the Ohio Power Siting Board approved an agreement authorizing Heartland Wind, LLC to construct the Blue Creek Wind Farm in Paulding and Van Wert counties. Heartland is authorized to provide up to 350 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity and the facility, as approved, will consist of 159 wind turbines spread across 1,700 acres. With the addition of the Blue Creek project, the OPSB has certificated five wind farms across the state totaling 472 turbines and up to 882.2 MW.

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Anthony J. Alexander
• Paul M. Barbas
• Michael G. Morris
• Existing U.S. Coal Mines
• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
• Coal plants cancelled in 2007
• Coal plants cancelled in 2008
• Profiles of other states (or click on the map)

<us_map redirect="{state} and coal"></us_map>

External links

• "FirstEnergy experiment OK'd," Beacon Journal, September 10, 2008
• Ohio Coal Plants, Sierra Club Google map of existing coal plants
• Current statistics, news items, documents and photos of mines in Northern Appalachia at CoalDiver