Loss of Life from Coal Pollution May Outweigh Value of Electricity.
The value of lives lost prematurely from pollution outstrips the value of electricity generated by many of the nation’s dirtiest coal-fired plants, according to a new study prepared by the Environmental Integrity Project, in collaboration with a BUSPH professor.
The study, which involved BUSPH Environmental Health Professor Jonathan Levy, found that for at least 18 power plants, premature deaths and their associated social costs outweighed the retail value of the electricity produced. The study examined health outcomes from pollution at 51 plants that had not installed up-to-date pollution control systems. The estimates of potential lives lost were based on two benchmark studies used by the EPA for calculating how changes in air quality impact the rate of premature mortality.
Emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter influence particulate concentrations, which have been linked to increased rates of death and illnesses ranging from heart attacks to lung cancer. Using a peer-reviewed methodology consistent with EPA practice, Levy estimated that fine particle pollution from the 51 power plants resulted in between 2,700 and 5,700 premature deaths in 2011, with an estimated “social cost” from that early mortality of between $23 and $47 billion. The estimates took into account the emissions volumes from each of the plants, as well as other factors, such as the amount of population downwind of each facility.
“The relationship between fine particulate matter pollution and premature mortality is well established, and the data are sufficient to provide a reasonable estimate of the number of premature deaths that will result from power plant emissions that increase fine particulate matter concentrations,” Levy said.
Fine particle concentrations are starting to decline in many areas, as utilities install scrubbers and other equipment to meet Clean Air Act requirements. But some plants have yet to install advanced pollution controls.
The 18 plants where the estimated costs of premature deaths outweighed the value of electricity generated were located in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri and Texas. Some of the plants are scheduled to be shut down in coming years.
Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project, said the study buttresses arguments for cleaning up old coal-fired plants.
“Investments in advanced emission controls can greatly reduce the dangerous buildup of fine particles, and investments in renewable energy and efficiency improvements can secure our supply of electricity – and generate the jobs we need – without the death and disease that are the price we pay for dirty coal plants,” he said.
Submitted by: Lisa Chedekel
chedekel@bu.edu