Endangered Plant Now An Example
January/February 2003 IBEW
Journal
Less than 10 years ago, environmentalists targeted
Washington state’s coal-fired Centralia generating plant for
its sulfur dioxide emissions, which they claimed were partly responsible
for obscuring one of the most treasured natural beauties of the
Northwest—Mount Rainier.
Fourteen-thousand-foot Mount Rainier, an active volcano, is a national
park 85 miles south of Seattle. Environmentalists nearly succeeded
in shuttering the only coal-fired plant in hydro-power-heavy Washington,
said Portland Local 125 Business Manager Bill Miller.
Two hundred million dollars later, the plant not only meets but
exceeds federal air pollution emission standards. The new scrubber
upgrade saved the 31-year-old plant, along with its 600 well-paying
union jobs.
"It was unnerving for our members here for a lot of years,"
Miller said. "In that area, those are really the only family
wage jobs around. The plant complex there is the backbone of the
economy."
More than 150 members of IBEW Local 125 are employed at the plant
owned by TransAlta, which purchased it in 2000. The upgrades make
Centralia among the cleanest coal-fired power plants in North America.
Today, sulfur dioxide emissions at the plant have been reduced by
90 percent.
A September ceremony at the plant also celebrated the opening of
a 248-megawatt natural gas generator and the operation’s recent
ISO 140001 certification, an international standard of excellence
for environmental management. With the scrubber technology and the
other improvements, Canada-based TransAlta has invested nearly $500
million in Centralia. Now the plant generates enough electricity
each year to light a city the size of Seattle.
"They’ve made a significant financial commitment and
tell us they’re there for the long haul," Miller said.
|
Related Articles
