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Power Plant Still Battling to Stay Open
Mary Harris stands on the balcony of her Alexandria apartment, which overlooks Mirant's Potomac River power plant. Neighbors want the plant closed.
(By David A. Fahrenthold -- The Washington Post)
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"It's a Truman-era plant, and it's probably right now somewhere in the late '70s" in terms of pollution-control technology, said Eric Schaeffer of the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project. One major piece of technology that's missing are "scrubbers," machines that remove pollutants such as sulfur dioxide. Mirant said it doesn't have space to install scrubbers, so instead it has used another method.
Overall, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials said the Potomac plant complies with all applicable rules. They said its pollution load would put it in the middle ranks of coal plants across the country. In the region, five plants in the Maryland suburbs produce more power than the Potomac plant and more sulfur dioxide.
Environmentalists said the Potomac plant's location makes it especially worrisome: Other coal plants are far from urban centers, with fewer people nearby to breathe their exhaust.
Concerns about those effects have convinced opponents, including Alexandria officials, that the plant must be overhauled with modern pollution controls or simply shut down.
"Basically, we say, 'Clean up or get out,' " said Ernie Lehmann, a board member of a local chapter of the Sierra Club.
Opponents have tried lawsuits and zoning to close the plant, but it has survived. It was closed for a time in 2005, after an analysis showed that its emissions could exceed limits. The plant reopened and is operating at a reduced capacity, using only three of its five boilers, to limit emissions.
Today will bring a new round in the fight. Virginia's Air Pollution Control Board will meet at 4 p.m. at the Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center, 1108 Jefferson St., to consider a plan by Mirant that would blow the plant's exhaust higher into the atmosphere, dispersing it a greater distance. Mirant says that would allow the plant to burn more coal without harming neighborhoods.
One thing will have changed from previous battles. Before, the Department of Energy had ordered that the plant remain open to provide backup power for the District during an emergency. The plant is no longer needed for that purpose because two lines were built this summer to connect the city with the regional power grid.
