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Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010
Coal-burning plant would add pollution
By Philip Curd
For the past 15 years, I've specialized in preventive medicine, a field focused on the influence of the environment on human health. Before that, I was a family physician, for 25 years and treated common diseases such as asthma, emphysema, black lung, heart disease, stroke — all caused or exacerbated by environmental pollutants.
My work as a family doctor put me in contact with patients one on one. In preventive medicine, I study populations and how to promote activities that increase their health — or avoid factors that worsen it.
Clean air and water are vital to health. When air quality deteriorates or water becomes polluted, we can expect the incidence of public health problems to multiply. The dirtier the air and water, the more pronounced health risks become. When faced with issues we know will impact air and water, we should think carefully about the health consequences, including the considerable costs associated with treating them.
Burning coal is one of those issues. As officials in the Kentucky Division for Air Quality consider whether to issue a permit to East Kentucky Power Cooperative for construction of a new coal-fired power plant in Clark County, they should give all due consideration to how even incremental increases in pollution from the plant will impact public health.
Taylor County, Fla., can serve as a case study in how this should be done. In response to a proposal for an 800-megawatt coal-fired power plant there, officials are undertaking a health-impact assessment that will look at air and water quality, potential effects on mortality and hospitalization rates, and medication use.
To my knowledge, nothing similar is being considered for Clark County. Can the net benefits of building a power plant be calculated without such information?
Air quality should be a particular concern; the impacts of pollution are felt in every breath we take. Coal combustion produces a number of dangerous pollutants, particulates and ozone among them. Mercury, a neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to infants and unborn babies, even in small amounts, also is emitted by coal-fired power plants.
According to the draft pollution permit, EKPC's proposed Smith plant in Clark County would emit 365 tons of soot particles, nearly 1,900 tons of nitrogen oxides (a key chemical in the formation of ozone pollution) and more than 50 pounds of mercury every year.
Particulates — consisting of a mix of soot, chemicals, heavy metals and aerosols — are some of the most harmful air pollutants. Breathing in particulate pollution, especially microscopic particles, can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, asthma and cardiovascular disease. Ozone, created by the reaction of fossil fuel combustion emissions with sunlight, irritates the lungs like a sunburn when inhaled.
Both these pollutants are especially harmful to vulnerable groups like children, older adults and those suffering from diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Even healthy adults can be at risk if they work or exercise outdoors. There is no "safe" level of these pollutants.
According to the American Lung Association, counties across Kentucky, both rural and urban, already suffer from deteriorated air quality. Lexington lies within roughly 25 miles of the Smith plant site, and Fayette County gets a "D" for particle pollution and an "F" for high ozone.
In deciding whether to approve EKPC's Smith plant, the effect of smog, particulates and mercury on public health should be a core part of any analysis DAQ conducts. As they did in Taylor County, Fla., residents in communities surrounding the Smith plant should ask officials to analyze the full range of health effects — including potential increases in health-care costs.
Are there healthier alternatives? In parts of the United States and elsewhere in the world, wind, solar and hydroelectric power are used increasingly. If there are ways to meet our energy needs with less harmful health effects, including becoming far more efficient with energy use, they should be considered as an alternative to the Smith plant.
Philip Curd, M.D., is the founder of White House Clinics in Jackson, Estill and Madison counties and has received several awards for humanitarian service.