For the amount of fuel they consume, New Hampshire's power plants generate more pollution than similar plants in New England. That's the conclusion of a new report by New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group. NHPR's Doug MacPherson reports.
THE REPORT BY NEW HAMPSHIRE PIRG USED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DATA TO MEASURE HOW MUCH POLLUTION NEW HAMPSHIRE PLANT?S PRODUCE RELATIVE TO THE AMOUNT FUEL THEY BURN.
THE GROUP THEN TOOK THAT DATA AND COMPARED IT TO THE PERFORMANCE OF OTHER PLANTS IN NEW ENGLAND. STEVE BLACKLEDGE, DIRECTOR OF N-H PIRG AND AUTHOR OF THE STUDY, EXPLAINS THE VALUE OF THE COMPARISON.
TAPE BLACKLEDGE Much like a car would be considered clean or dirty based on the amount of pollution coming out of the tailpipe for each gallon of gas burned, this report looks at the amount of pollution coming out of the smokestacks for each unit of fuel burned. :13
ALL THREE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE?S FOSSIL FUEL POWER PLANTS ARE OWNED BY P-S-N-H. ALL ARE SO-CALLED ?GRAND-FATHERED? PLANTS ? MEANING THEY WERE BUILT BEFORE 1977 AND DON?T HAVE TO MEET THE MUCH STRICTER EMISSIONS STANDARDS THAT NEW PLANTS MUST MEET.
BLACKLEDGE LOOKED AT THE POUNDS OF POLLUTION GENERATED BY THESE PLANTS PER UNIT OF OIL OR COAL THEY CONSUME ? THEN COMPARED THEM WITH ALL OF THE 13-OTHER GRAND-FATHERED PLANTS IN NEW ENGLAND. HERE?S WHAT HE FOUND.
TAPE BLACKLEDGE psnh plants are on average, the dirtiest in all of new England in terms of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emission rates. :09
CARBON DIOXIDE OR C-O-2 IS THE LARGEST SINGLE CONTRIBUTOR TO CLIMATE CHANGE. SULFUR DIOXIDE OR ?SOX? IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF ACID RAIN, AND FINE PARTICLES OF SULFUR CAN LODGE IN PEOPLE?S LUNGS. NITROGEN OXIDE OR ?NOX? FUELS SMOG. N-H PIRG SAYS THE DATA ON C02, SOX AND NOX EMISSIONS ALL CAME FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, AS REPORTED BY POWER PLANTS THEMSELVES.
FOR IT?S PART, P-S-N-H DOESN?T DIRECTLY DISPUTE N-H PIRG?S FINDINGS. COMPANY OFFICIALS SAY THEY HAVEN?T HAD TIME TO STUDY THE DATA. COMPANY SPOKESMAN MARTIN MURRAY SAYS NOT ALL THE POWER PLANTS COMPARED IN THE STUDY ARE EQUAL.
TAPE MURRAY: We do have power plants that inherently DO produce more nox and some sox than some other plants. So we?ve had a lot of challenges in finding ways to economically allow these plants to continue to operate and produce power, but also to clean up their emissions by a great deal. And fortunately, we?ve been able to do that. :20
MURRAY CRITICIZED THE TIMING OF THE STUDY?S RELEASE -- ON THE EVE OF THE FIRST PUBLIC HEARING OF A NEW PROPOSAL TO REDUCE EMISSIONS FROM P-S-N-H?S PLANTS. P-S-N-H SUPPORTS THE PROPOSAL ? CALLED THE CLEAN POWER ACT -- SAYING IT WILL RESULT IN CLEANER AIR AT AN AFFORDABLE COST. CRITICS, INCLUDING N-H PIRG, SAYS THE MEASURE WOULDN?T ACTUALLY REQUIRE P-S-N-H TO CLEAN UP ITS PLANTS. THE PUBLIC HEARING ON THE MEASURE CONVENES WEDNESDAY MORNING. FOR
N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
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