Study: Gallatin Coal Plant
Presented by Helen Li, Policy Intern, Tennessee Environmental Council
Photo: http://www.metropulse.com/news/2012/nov/14/power-play-tvas-plans-gallatin-plant-draw-ire-envi/
Table of Contents
This report covers the following
topics:
 Situation Overview
 TVA Clean Air Settlement
 Gallatin Coal Plant Statistics
 TVA Plans
 Threats Overview
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Coal-fired Power Plants
Air Pollution
Water Pollution
Coal Ash Pollution
Mercury Pollution
Harm to Native Species
Carbon Emissions
 Opportunities Overview
 Energy Efficiency
 Jobs & Economy
 Renewables
 Take Action
 Appendix
Gallatin Plant Overview
 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will be making decisions in 2013 to upgrade
the Gallatin coal plant to comply with new EPA emission standards.
 The Gallatin Steam Plant is just 30 miles from downtown Nashville. It is
situated on Old Hickory Lake (formed by a dam of the Cumberland river
which flows from Gallatin toward Nashville). The Cumberland River is the
primary source of drinking water for Nashville and surrounding suburbs.
 The Gallatin coal plant is 60 years old; it has been ranked as the 17th dirtiest
power plant in the country. The estimated life of the plant, even with current
upgrades, is a mere 10 to 15 years.
 The cost for the current upgrades is more than one billion dollars. This is money
that could support cleaner, more efficient energy and other conservation efforts
in Tennessee. The Sierra Club estimates that – through energy efficiency
measures alone – more energy could be saved annually than the annual output
of the Gallatin coal plant.
Gallatin Plant Overview
Photo: http://maps.google.com (Downtown Nashville to the Gallatin Coal Plant)
Gallatin Plant Overview: Statistics
 History – Constructed in 1953
 Location – Middle Tennessee on the north bank of the Cumberland
River (1499 Steam Plant Rd., Gallatin, TN 37066) ~30 miles from
the heart of Downtown Nashville
 Coal requirements – 12,350 tons of coal a day
 Coal waste – 17th dirtiest in the nation. 2,093,068 pounds released in
2006
Gallatin Plant Overview: Statistics
 Sulfur Dioxide (linked to asthma) – released 20 million tons in 2010
 Nitrous Oxides (cause of ozone damage and smog) – released 6
million tons in 2010
 Mercury (highly toxic) – released 280 pounds in 2010
 Carbon Dioxide – Released 8 million tons (equivalent to the
emissions of 1.4 million cars) in 2007
Gallatin Plant Overview
TVA Clean Air Act Settlement
 In 2011 – TVA resolved longstanding disputes over the Clean Air Act
with the EPA, the NC, KY, AL, TN Sierra Clubs, and the National
Parks Conservation Association.
 Gallatin was one of four unscrubbed coal plants that TVA would need
to shut down, scrub, or replace by 2017.
 In August 2011, the TVA board authorized a $1.2 billion budget to
reduce harmful emissions.
Gallatin Plant Overview
TVA Plans
 Spend more than one billion dollars to retrofit the 60-year-old
Gallatin Coal Plant with pollution control technology
 Will reduce emissions, however
 Toxic mercury pollution remains
 May increase toxicity of coal ash waste stored near the Cumberland
River
 Coal ash contains mercury and arsenic
 TVA’s planned air pollution controls (scrubbers) will capture
pollutants from the smokestacks, turn them into toxic and dangerous
coal ash, and store them.
Threats Overview
 Air Pollution
 Water Pollution
 Landfill Pollution
 Mercury Pollution
 Harm to native species
 Carbon Emissions
Threats: Air Pollution
 Coal plants are a major source of soot and smog pollution
 Can trigger asthma attacks or worsen existing respiratory illness
 Air pollutants cause cardiovascular disease and can lead to heart attack
 In the United States, more than 40% of people live in unhealthy
levels of air pollution
 386,000 tons of air pollutants are produced by U.S. coal plants each
year
 Coal plants are the single-largest source of toxic mercury pollution
the US
Coal-fired Power Plant in the US
Photo: http://blog.cleanenergy.org/files/2012/11/coal_fired_power_plant.jpg
Threats: Air Pollutants
Threats: Water Pollution
 TVA allowed to discharge nearly 28 million gallons per day of
contaminated wastewater into unlined ponds
 2.1 million pounds of coal combustion waste released in 2006
 Ash water laced with toxics – aluminum, arsenic, barium, boron, iron,
lead, manganese, mercury, selenium
 Groundwater contamination – Excessive levels of beryllium, cadmium,
nickel, and vanadium
 Old Hickory Lake and The Cumberland River - downstream from the
plant - are the primary sources of drinking water for most of the
Nashville metropolitan area.
Threats: Coal Ash Pollution
 Each year, coal plants produce 140 million tons of coal ash pollution
 Coal ash can seep into drinking water sources or blow into nearby
communities
 Contains high levels of toxic heavy metals
 People living within 1 mile of unlined coal ash ponds can have a 1 in 50
risk of cancer (more than 2,000 times higher than what the EPA
considers acceptable)
 Scrubbers such as the ones proposed by TVA for Gallatin serve only to
capture the pollutants from the air and turn them to coal ash
Threats: Toxic Coal Ash
Coal Ash Spill in Kingston TN
Photo: http://www.ecosphericblog.com/581/site-of-kingston-coal-ash-spill-re-opened-for-recreation-but-is-it-too-soon/
Threats: Kingston Coal Ash Disaster
 Kingston Coal Ash Disaster December 2008
 Coal ash holding ponds at TVA’s Kingston Fossil plant collapsed
 Over a billions gallons of toxic sludge released into the Emory and Clinch
rivers
 EPA called this “one of the worst environmental disasters of its kind in
history” and the event was listed by Mother Nature Network as one of
America’s 10 worst man made environmental disasters.
 The cleanup is still in progress and costs are estimated to be over $1
billion.
 Living near a wet coal ash storage pond (such as ones employed at
Gallatin) is more dangerous than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day
Threats: Kingston Coal Ash Disaster
Photo: http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/11/congressional-watchdog-issues-update-on-coal-ash-regulation-efforts.html
Threats: Mercury Pollution
Coal Fired Power Plants –
Single largest source of toxic
mercury pollution the US.
Mercury is damaging to the
brain and nervous system
(especially for infants and
young children).
Threats: Mercury Pollution
Threats: Water Cycle (Mercury Pollution)
Photo: http://www.polywellnuclearfusion.com/CarbonWillKillUs/CoalPollution.html
Threats: Harm to wildlife
 Outdated cooling system with water intake structures suck fish into the
plant and kills them
 One-third of Cumberland River’s flow is diverted for use as cooling
water – fish and other life become trapped in the screening devices.
(More than a quarter million fish were caught in these screens in 2006)
 Smaller life forms pass through screen devices and die from physical
trauma, pressures, thermal shock, or chemicals added to the water by
TVA
 Downstream river temperatures are 2-6 degrees higher than temperatures
upstream, drastically altering aquatic communities
 Hunting and fishing in the Old Hickory lake area are important
recreational activities that contributes to the local economy.
Threats: Carbon Dioxide
 Gallatin ranks 98th out of 600 coal plants in the U.S. in terms of carbon
emissions. Gallatin released 8 million tons of carbon in 2007, equivalent
to the emissions of 1.4 million cars.
 U.S. power plants account for 72% of the greenhouse gases reported by
stationary facilities in 2010. Tennessee releases 63.3 million tons every
year (17th highest in the nation).
 In 2012, the entire world released nearly 38.2 billion tons of carbon
dioxide into the air from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, a
historic high.
 2012 was the hottest year ever according to the National Climactic Data
Center.
Threats: Carbon Emissions
For more information,
visit Clean Energy’s page
on Carbon.
Opportunities Overview
 TVA Investment
 Energy Efficiency
 Jobs and Economy
 Renewables
Opportunities: TVA Energy Efficiency Target
 TVA could save at least $2.7 billion over the next twenty years
through energy efficiency programs
 By focusing on a 1% energy efficiency target, TVA can shut down
the Gallatin Plant and maintain energy availability while lowering
cost for customers
 Investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency jobs can boost
the economy
Opportunities: Energy Efficiency
 Energy Efficiency – Reducing the amount of energy required to
provide products and services
 Global Energy Partners Study (how to achieve efficiency)
 Homes have the most energy saving potential, followed by businesses
and industry
 Residential – insulation, fluorescent/natural lights
 Commercial – efficient interior lighting, better ventilation and cooling
 Industrial – improvements in machine drives and motors, fan and pump
systems, and equipment upgrades
Opportunities: Energy Efficiency in Homes
 Energy escapes from
homes in many ways.
Insulation helps
preserve the natural
capacity of homes to
stabilize temperatures.
 Photo:
http://www.greenovative
design.com/hers
Opportunities: Energy Efficiency
TVA’s 1% Energy Efficiency Target
 With this program, each year, TVA takes 1% of the previous year’s
power sales to set as the energy efficient target for the next year.
These savings will thus accumulate over time.
 These savings would occur through incentives, rebates, financing,
and technical assistance to weatherize homes, improve lighting,
purchase efficient appliances, improve building envelopes, and
reduce other energy losses
 TVA currently has a 0.3% energy efficiency savings rate
Opportunities: Jobs and Economy
 Setting a 1% annual energy efficiency target will generate a 4,000 MW
savings in energy by 2030
 TVA could close more than 55% of TVA remaining coal fleet and reduce
by half the carbon intensity of electricity
 Every $1 million spent on energy efficiency will generate 6 local jobs
and 6 indirect jobs.
 Converting the $1 billion to be spent on Gallatin would create 6,000 local
jobs and 6,000 indirect jobs
 The entire U.S. has the potential to reduce its annual energy consumption
by 23% over the next 10 years through cost-effective efficiency measures
Opportunities: Green Jobs
 Retrofitting just 40 percent of the nation’s residential and commercial
buildings would generate more than half a million (625,000)
sustained full time jobs over a decade.
 Every 1 million invested in energy efficiency retrofits will create
17.36 jobs according to the Political Economy Research Institute at
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
 6.86 jobs are created by similar investment in coal
 5.18 jobs are created by similar investment in oil and gas
 Most of the products used in energy efficiency retrofits have over 90
percent of the content made in the USA.
Opportunities: Green Jobs
 A report released by the state of Tennessee in 2009 found that, by
investing in energy efficiency, the state could
 reduce the unemployment rate
 reduce manufacturing job losses
 increase income
 By spending $1.9 billion over two years, Tennessee could create 45,000
new jobs
 The state could gain more than 4,200 full-time jobs in wind and nearly
400 in solar components manufacturing by 2015
 Among 162 occupations related to green jobs, 75% do not require a
college education
Opportunities: Green Jobs
Photo: http://www.frumforum.com/what-exactly-is-a-green-job/
Opportunities: Renewable Energy
 The superiority of wind and solar energy
 No fuel costs (mining/extraction, transportation, disposal)
 Infinite and cleaner energy sources (air emissions and water discharges)
 Reduced dependence on foreign sources
 Reduced transmission loss (generated locally)
 No expensive and dangerous storage options for spent fuel
 No coal ash spills like that in Kingston, TN, or loss of cooling to
retention facilities such as Fukushima
 No destructive extraction methods (mountaintop coal mining, uranium
mining)
 Reduced terrorism threat (major power plants or nuclear facilities as
targets)
Opportunities: Renewable Energy
Photo: http://www.costech.or.tz/?portfolio=renewable-energy
Take Action
Visit www.tectn.org/gallatin-coal for updates and to
take action.
Appendix
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TN Climate Action Campaign

http://www.tnclimateaction.net/about-our-organization

http://www.tnclimateaction.net/close-coal/close-gallatin
Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign
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Human Health Impacts
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http://www.psr.org/resources/coals-assault-on-human-health.html
http://www.lung.org/assets/documents/healthy-air/toxic-air-report.pdf
http://www.lung.org/healthy-air/outdoor/resources/toxic-air-report/
Coal Ash Spill
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http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/tennessee
Gallatin Coal Plant Fact Sheet
http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/resources
http://www.southeastcoalash.org/?page_id=720
Gallatin Fossil Plant

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gallatin_Fossil_Plant
Appendix (continued)
 Nashville Government
 http://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/WaterServices/docs/reports/C
CR2012.pdf
 Paddock & Mastin Attorneys at Law Renewables Study 2.16.12
 Collaborations
 Press Release 2.16.12 “Environmental Organizations Seek 25% Renewable
Energy Generation From Tva By 2020”
 Jobs
 http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2011/09/07/10332/astar-turn-for-energy-efficiency-jobs/
 http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/states/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12232