Big Stone Power Plant
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Big Stone Power Plant is an operating power station of at least 456-megawatts (MW) in Big Stone City, Grant, South Dakota, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Big Stone Power Plant | Big Stone City, Grant, South Dakota, United States | 45.304611, -96.511033 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1: 45.304611, -96.511033
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: subbituminous | 456 | subcritical | 1975 |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Otter Tail Power Co [53%]; NorthWestern Energy Group Inc [23%]; Montana-Dakota Utilities Co [22%] | Otter Tail Power Co [53.9%]; NorthWestern Energy Group Inc [23.4%]; MDU Resources Group Inc [22.7%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): Rawhide Mine (Peabody coal), Eagle Butte Mine (Black Jewel)
Emissions Data
- 2024 Gross Load (MWh): 1,659,184[1]
- 2024 SO2 Mass (short tons): 724[1]
- 2024 CO2 Mass (short tons): 2,210,266[1]
- 2024 NOx Mass (short tons): 789[1]
- 2023 Mercury emissions (Hg, lb): 5.98[2][3]
Lawsuit against Big Stone I
In June of 2008 the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against Otter Tail Power, the owner and operator of Big Stone Power Plant (Big Stone I), accusing the company of violating the Clean Air Act as the company failed to install modern pollution controls when the facility was upgraded. In the summer of 2009 the suit was dismissed by a federal judge claiming the statute of limitations had expired. The Sierra Club then appealed the decision to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Sierra Club had originally asked the judge to force the utility to install scrubbers to reduce pollution before they build, the now-abandoned, Big Stone II.[4] However, the Sierra Club's ultimate goal is to shut down Big Stone I in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.[5]
On August 12, 2010, a federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of the Clean Air Act lawsuit against Otter Trail Power, saying the Sierra Club should have sued earlier. The Sierra Club in June 2008, saying the Big Stone plant violated the federal Clean Air Act by failing to obtain permits for modifications and exceeding emission limits. Otter Tail moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the group needed to sue within five years of the date of the last modifications, which were done in 2001. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of the case.[6]
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Big Stone 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.[7] 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.[8]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Big Stone Power Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 8 | $62,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 13 | $1,400,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 140 | $7,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 6 | $140,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 5 | $2,300,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 9 | $3,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that South Dakota, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that was not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites.[9] The report mentioned South Dakota's Big Stone Power Plant as a site that has groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.[10]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 EIA (2024). "Clean Air Markets Program Data (CAMD)". Retrieved 2025-02-20.
- ↑ Clean Air and Power Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (February 2024). "Annual data 2022 vs. 2023". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ Toxics Release Inventory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (October 2024). "2023 Basic Plus Data". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ “Sierra Club's suit alleges violations at Big Stone I", HJ Cummins, Star Tribune, June 11, 2008
- ↑ “Conservation group appeals Big Stone power plant ruling" MPR News, August 4, 2009
- ↑ "Dismissal of Sierra Club's Big Stone suit upheld" Bloomberg, August 12, 2010.
- ↑ "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
- ↑ "Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination" Renee Schoff, Miami Herald, August 26, 2010.
- ↑ "Enviro groups: ND, SD coal ash polluting water" Associated Press, August 24, 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.
