Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant

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Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant is a retired power station in Wyandotte, Michigan, United States.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant Wyandotte, Michigan, United States 42.208041, -83.14538 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 7: 42.208041, -83.14538

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 7 retired coal - bituminous 32 subcritical 1986 2017

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner
Unit 7 Wyandotte Municipal Services Commission [100.0%]

Background

The 32 MW unit was first commissioned in 1986. In 2017, the power station's coal-fired unit 7 was converted to gas.[1]

Emissions Data

  • CO2 Emissions: 532,195 tons (2006)
  • SO2 Emissions: 1,345 tons (2002)
  • SO2 Emissions per MWh: 8.55 lb/MWh
  • NOx Emissions: 533 tons (2002)
  • Mercury Emissions:

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[2] The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma-related episodes and asthma-related emergency room visits, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, peneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution is formed from a combination of soot, acid droplets, and heavy metals formed from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and soot. Among those particles, the most dangerous are the smallest (smaller than 2.5 microns), which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities.

The table below estimates the death and illness attributable to the Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant. Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[3]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant

Type of Impact Annual Incidence Valuation
Deaths 6 $45,000,000
Heart attacks 10 $1,100,000
Asthma attacks 110 $6,000
Hospital admissions 5 $110,000
Chronic bronchitis 4 $1,800,000
Asthma ER visits 8 $3,000

Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Articles and Resources

References

  1. "Operating Permit for Wyandotte Municipal Power Plant," Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, July 10, 2017
  2. "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
  3. "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.