Utility Emissions Cast Deadly Pall over Tampa, Fla., Area
By Mike Salinero, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jun. 10--TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A new study ranks the Tampa Bay area as the 13th-worst metro area in the nation for illnesses and premature deaths caused by emissions from dirty power plants.
The study, using computer modeling based on data collected in 2002, estimates
that 265 people die prematurely each year in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area
because of pollutants from coal-fired power plants. An additional 380 Bay area
residents suffer nonfatal heart attacks yearly because of the pollutants.
The report doesn't take into account Tampa Electric Co.'s new $750 million
Culbreath Bayside Power Station, which went online in January. Bayside emits 99
percent less nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide than the 50-year-old plant it
replaced. The new power plant also produces 85 percent less particulate matter
than its coal-burning predecessor.
One hour's drive north of Tampa, however, Progress Energy's Crystal River
coal-fired plant is ranked in the top 20 nationally for nitrogen oxide and
sulfur dioxide emissions.
Scientists for years have blamed coal-burning power plants for breathing
problems such as asthma. The report cites new research that expands the list of
serious health problems linked to coal-fired plants.
The report is critical of Bush administration air pollution proposals that
environmentalists say would allow older, coal-fired power plants to continue
operating without the latest pollution-reduction equipment. It compares the
administration's proposals with the current Clean Air Act and with a bipartisan
proposal sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vermont. The administration
proposal would allow 4,000 more preventable deaths each year compared with
enforcing current law, according to the study.
Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the power industry, said there is wide
disagreement over the health effects environmentalists attribute to power
plants.
"They consistently point to the same numbers," Maisano said.
"They may say these are new numbers, but the song remains the same."
The Bush administration's proposed solution to power plant pollutants is a
"cap and trade" approach. It would allow plants that exceed their caps
to buy pollution credits from plants that are under their limits.
Maisano said the older, dirtier plants would find it less expensive to
upgrade pollution- control equipment than to continually buy credits. The
program has been credited with reducing acid rain in some parts of the country.
Environmentalists say the administration's proposals will prolong reductions
in harmful emissions. They intend to use the new study to pressure Congress into
passing hard caps on emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and
particulate matter.
"We're looking to Congress to tell the Bush administration they have to
reverse course," said Holly Binns of the Florida Public Interest Research
Group. "Since taking office, they've weakened core parts of the Clean Air
Act and rolled back clean air protections. That's just the wrong
direction."
John Millett, spokesman for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said
overall air quality has improved under the Bush administration. From 2000 to
2002, power plants nationwide reduced overall nitrogen oxide emissions by 13
percent and sulfur dioxide by 9 percent.
The "Dirty Air, Dirty Power" study was conducted by Abt Associates,
a consultant used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These are some
key findings:
--Fine particle pollution from U.S. power plants cuts short the lives of
nearly 24,000 people each year, including 2,800 from lung cancer.
--The average number of years lost by individuals dying prematurely from
exposure to particulate matter is 14.
--Hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer from asthma attacks and heart and
respiratory problems associated with fine particles from power plants.
--Power plant pollution is responsible for 38,200 nonfatal heart attacks each
year.
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