Eagle Valley Station
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Eagle Valley Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Indianapolis Power & Light, a subsidiary of AES, near Martinsville, Indiana.
In April 2016, Indianapolis Power & Light retired all four coal-burning units at its Eagle Valley Generating Station. The facility will be replaced by a new 671 MW combined-cycle gas facility.[1]
Contents
Retirement
In May 2013, IPL announced that the Eagle Valley Station will be retired, with a 650 MW combined cycle gas plant to be constructed at the same site by 2017. At the same time IPL announced plans to retire or refuel two of the three coal-fired units at the Harding Street Station (Units 5 and 6, but not Unit 7).[2]
Plant Data
- Owner: Indianapolis Power & Light Company
- Parent Company: AES
- Plant Nameplate Capacity: 302 MW (Megawatts)
- Units and In-Service Dates: 50 MW (1951), 69 MW (1953), 69 MW (1953), 114 MW (1956)
- Location: 4040 Blue Bluff Rd., Martinsville, IN 46151
- GPS Coordinates: 39.485844, -86.417575
- Coal Consumption:
- Coal Source:
- Number of Employees:
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 1,596,416 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions:
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions:
- 2005 Mercury Emissions:
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Eagle Valley
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 fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[3] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and 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, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. 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.[4]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Eagle Valley Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 29 | $210,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 44 | $4,900,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 480 | $25,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 21 | $480,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 18 | $7,800,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 29 | $11,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed March 2011
Coal Waste Sites
- Eagle Valley Station A Pond
- Eagle Valley Station B Pond
- Eagle Valley Station C Pond
- Eagle Valley Station D Pond
- Eagle Valley Station E Pond
EPA "high hazard" dam
In November 2011, the EPA released a new set of data that revealed 181 “significant” hazard dams in 18 states - more than three times the 60 significant-hazard ponds listed in the original database released in 2009. In addition to the increase in the number of significant hazard-rated ponds, eight previously unrated coal ash ponds were found to be high hazard ponds in information released by the EPA earlier in 2011. Because of the switch in ratings after the EPA inspections, the total number of high hazard ponds has stayed roughly the same at a total of 47 ponds nationwide.[5]
According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID) criteria, “high” hazard coal ash ponds are categorized as such because their failure will likely cause loss of human life. Six states that gained high hazard ponds include:[5]
- Indiana: Eagle Valley Station, Indianapolis: 1 high hazard pond
Articles and Resources
Sources
- ↑ Robert Walton, "A rough day for coal: Midwest utilities retire 2,000 MW," Utility Drive, April 18, 2016
- ↑ "HOMENEWSIPL ANNOUNCES PLANS TO BUILD STATE-OF-THE-ART POWER PLANT," IPL press release, May 1, 2013. Note that in its press release the company referred to "six existing units" at the Eagle Valley Station.
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ken Ward Jr., "EPA data reveals more dangerous coal ash ponds" Coal Tattoo, Oct. 31, 2011.
- Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
- Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.
- Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed Feb. 2009.
