W.S. Lee Steam Station
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W.S. Lee Steam Station is an operating power station of at least 955-megawatts (MW) in Pelzer, Anderson, South Carolina, United States with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as William States Lee III power station.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| W.S. Lee Steam Station | Pelzer, Anderson, South Carolina, United States | 34.602336, -82.434878 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3: 34.602336, -82.434878
- Unit 7, Unit 8, Unit CC1: 34.6022, -82.435
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | retired | coal - bituminous | 90 | subcritical | – | 1951 | 2014 |
| Unit 2 | retired | coal - bituminous | 90 | subcritical | – | 1951 | 2014 |
| Unit 3 | retired | coal - bituminous, fossil gas - natural gas | 175 | subcritical | – | 1958 | 2015 |
| Unit 7 | operating[1] | fossil gas - natural gas, fossil liquids - fuel oil[2] | 54[1] | gas turbine[1] | – | 2007[1] | – |
| Unit 8 | operating[1] | fossil gas - natural gas, fossil liquids - fuel oil[2] | 54[1] | gas turbine[1] | – | 2007[1] | – |
| Unit CC1 | operating[1] | fossil gas - natural gas[1] | 847[1] | combined cycle[1] | – | 2018[1] | – |
CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Duke Energy Carolinas LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Duke Energy Carolinas LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit 3 | Duke Energy Carolinas LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit 7 | Duke Energy Carolinas LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit 8 | Duke Energy Carolinas LLC [100.0%] |
| Unit CC1 | Duke Energy Carolinas LLC [100.0%] |
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 1,656,246 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions:
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions:
- 2005 Mercury Emissions:
Coal Waste Sites
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from W.S. Lee Steam Station
On its website Duke Energy states that "In 2004, Duke Energy entered into a voluntary agreement with the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control to install additional nitrogen oxide emission controls at Lee Steam Station. The controls support the Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson Early Action Compact to reduce smog-forming emissions in Upstate South Carolina."[3]
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.[4] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, 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. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. 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. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal 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.[5]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from W.S. Lee Steam Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 33 | $240,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 46 | $5,000,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 540 | $28,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 23 | $550,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 20 | $8,800,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 32 | $12,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
W.S. Lee ranked 100th on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill.[6] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[7]
W.S. Lee Steam Station ranked number 100 on the list, with 190,030 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[6]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 https://web.archive.org/web/20200612191408/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/november_generator2019.xlsx. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20211122185052/https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/eia860m/archive/xls/july_generator2021.xlsx. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ Duke Energy, "Lee Steam Station", Duke Energy website, accessed Feb 2016
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 4, 2009.
- ↑ TRI Explorer, EPA, accessed January 2009.
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
