It seems absurd that a third of the air pollution over New Jersey isn’t from there.
More than 145,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per year actually comes from this one facility, the W.H. Sammis plant, operated by Ohio Edison, which is owned by FirstEnergy Corporation.
More pollution comes out of these chimneys than all of the power generating stations in New Jersey and Connecticut, combined.
You can clearly see the shadows of the smokestacks, the tallest of which is a thousand feet high. Another fifty feet and it would be the height of the Chrysler building.
This was once state-of-the-art.
Decades ago people believed that taller smokestacks would somehow dilute the pollution and make it less harmful, like blowing your cigar smoke up towards the ceiling in a crowded room. It works about as well, too.
All it does is spread the smoke farther out.
Pollution from coal-burning power plants causes an estimated 30,000 deaths a year in the United States – more than drunken driving, AIDS, or homicides, according to one analysis. That analysis was done by Abt Associates … Abt has been used by the EPA to quantify the health effects of federal policies.
Federal laws are on the books protecting the health of people downwind of power plants. The Clean Air Act took effect thirty years ago. Yet this continues year after year.
In 2003 the executive branch of the Federal Government tried to change the enforcement of the rule governing ‘grandfathered’ generating stations so that ancient power plants like this one can increase emissions without installing the latest emission controls as the law requires.
"In the 1990s, EPA discovered that electric utility and oil companies had been carrying out massive, pollution-increasing construction projects to extend the operational lifetimes of the oldest, dirtiest power plants and oil refineries in the country. The power and oil companies had carried out these projects without adopting modern pollution controls or examining the impact of the increased pollution on downwind communities and parks, emitting hundreds of thousands of tons of illegal pollution." NRDC
The changes to the New Source Review rules that the Bush administration proposed in 2003 would have made all that stuff perfectly legal. In fact, that alone was an argument used in favor of the changes– that they would clear up all the court cases.
By making it legal to get around the law.
Lawsuits against these firms are still being disputed in court. There have been some successes and more recently what has been described as a serious setback.
People take this very seriously. You don’t buy bottled air like you do water.
"’These are matters of life and death for New Jersey’s residents,’ said Bradley Campbell, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection."
New Jersey sued sixteen coal burning plants in the Midwest, which together emit 350,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and 136 million tons of carbon dioxide. More than a million tons of sulfur dioxide, which causes asthma in people who breathe the air.
Asthma is a clinical term for a collection of symptoms, but the primary one is not being able to breathe.
In March of 2005, Ohio Edison, a division of FirstEnergy Corporation that runs the plant in Stratton, came to a settlement agreement in related EPA prosecution.
"March 18, 2005 — The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today settled a case alleging that Ohio Edison Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., violated the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act at the W.H. Sammis Station, a coal-fired power plant in Stratton, Ohio. The states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, who are co-plaintiffs in the government’s lawsuit, also join the settlement. The consent decree agreed to by Ohio Edison will reduce emissions of harmful sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides(NOx) from the Sammis plant, as well as from other Ohio Edison and FirstEnergy coal-fired power plants, by over 212,000 tons per year." source
On June 15th 2005 a U.S. appeals court decided that Duke Energy didn’t violate law when it changed its power plants without preventing increased pollution.
Apparently the court decided that New Source Review only applies to projects that increase the plant’s hourly rate of emissions, and not in cases where the plant operates for longer hours each year.
Even though both increase annual pollution. Seems like a strange distinction to make, and one completely out of spirit with the law.
A brand-new loophole for industry, newly born.
Amazing how from the zoomed out satellite images everything looks green and beautiful. You’d never know.
That’s because the pollution comes down on the people to the East. In New Jersey and New York. Thanks for reading Sprol!
Would like to have your mailing address and phone number to apply for a job.
Thank you
Randy Jones
740-264-1993
I would like to apply for a job. Please contact me ASAP.
I would like to apply for a job. I would like your mailing address to send in my resume. Im very interested in a job at the plant.
Thanks,
Robert
my name is sherry and i would like to apply for a job.i have been working at homer laughlin china co for almost 12 years.i am a hard worker and very dedicated,so please contact me.
I would like to apply for a career. I would like your mailing address to send in my resume. Im especially interested in a job at the plant.
Thank you,
Joseph Kalata
I have 13 yars experience as a Boilerman/attendant at a Coal fired power plant. I would like info on how to apply for a job. Thanks
I am an engineer at a power plant, and Duke won that law suit because it increased efficiency which in turn increased generation without increasing the amount of coal burned or pollution released.
i don’t understand why this plant put so much money into a dieing technology. If you are not familiar, polution controll”CONTROLL” They wasted prim land at a 1250′ level. Miles of conveyor belts to hold the stinkin fly ash. Land that could have been home to one hell of a MW wind turbine farm… And no Polution… Some will argue That jobs will be lost. It takes design, It takes parts designed, then built, It takes delivery. And don’t forget about the hard working riggers that put it all together. This is a changing world. Cath up, or choke out…
I have 20 years at WPSteel and would love to apply for a job at the Sammis Plant. I live in Steubenville,ohio and I’m at this time laid off. I am a very hard worker, who never miss work. Everyone who knows me will tell you that I can do just about everything. I learn very fast and would love to send you a resume.I am free anytime. Please contact me as soon as possible.
How do i apply for a career at this power plant
I am now working as a millwright in the coke plant due to cut back at severstal-wheeling. I have 32 years there. My current bid is in shipping
My current job is as a millwright in the coke plant at sverstal-wheeling. i have 32 year there, my actual job there is in shipping, but due to the cut in the mill with 17 years in pump repair where working on boilers, pumps throught out the mill, i went but to maintainance to keep working. i would like to retire and apply for a jobat the the sammis plant. thank you
I work at the W.H. Sammis plant, and you are a tool
It’s bizarre to sit on the hill across from the W.H. Sammis power plant and watch barges of coal struggling north against the Ohio River current to deliver coal to burn at the Sammis plant. The plant sits next to a dam, a huge dam; with 24/7 free massive kinetic energy. Drop the Sammis turbines in the river, silly!