Press Mention The News-Sentinel March 6, 2002
SACE Quoted
TVA challenges study; 'people are dying,' alliance says
In this mention
A TVA official disputed a study linking long-term exposure to coal-fired power plant emissions with elevated lung cancer risk, claiming insufficient evidence that coal plants specifically are the culprit. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy's Stephen Smith countered that only six of 59 boilers at TVA's 11 coal-fired plants have scrubbers and criticized the slow pace of emissions reductions, stating 'people are dying' from air pollution.
The bottom line is that people are dying, and we need to clear this up
Stephen A. Smith
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Full transcript
TVA challenges study; 'people are dying,' alliance says
By Richard Powelson
News-Sentinel Washington bureau
A TVA official Wednesday questioned the accuracy of a study that suggested people living long-term around coal-fired power plants, factories and diesel trucks may face higher risk of dying of lung cancer.
TVA operates 11 coal-fired power plants, including two in East Tennessee in Kingston and Clinton.
John Shipp, general manager of environmental policy and planning for TVA, said that he read news reports on the study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He said there was no determination of which of the sources of fine particles is to blame.
This study and others seem to "conclude that all of these sources are contributing to health effects," Shipp said. "We simply do not know if this is true."
To help clarify the culprit, TVA has been studying fine particle pollution, including that from vehicles, in the Atlanta area for two years. TVA is complying with the Clean Air Act by planning to install five more scrubbers at its coal-fired plants to reduce particles, he said. Other forms of air pollution also will be reduced, with TVA spending about $2.7 billion from 1999 to 2010, he said.
The American Lung Association said the study adds urgency to the need for faster action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce emissions.
"The scientific evidence keeps mounting," said the group's president, John Kirkwood. "In the meantime we are no closer to protecting people's health … Further, the EPA is considering weakening the (act) as it applies to many of the largest sources of particle pollution: coal-fired power plants, refineries, pulp and paper mills and other large industrial facilities."
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in Knoxville long has complained that air pollution reductions are not happening fast enough to protect public health and the natural resources of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in East Tennessee and western North Carolina.
Alliance spokesman Stephen Smith said only six of 59 boilers at 11 sites have scrubbers, and it is unclear if TVA will install all five additional scrubbers.
"The bottom line is that people are dying, and we need to clear this up," he said.
Richard Powelson may be reached at 202-408-2727 or powelsonr@atns.com.