Gallatin Fossil Plant
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Gallatin Fossil Plant is an operating power station of at least 1919-megawatts (MW) in Gallatin, Sumner, Tennessee, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Gallatin Fossil Plant | Gallatin, Sumner, Tennessee, United States | 36.315372, -86.400783 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- GT1, GT2, GT3, GT4, GT5, GT6, GT7, GT8, Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4: 36.315372, -86.400783
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | CHP | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT1 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 81[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1975[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT2 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 81[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1975[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT3 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 81[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1975[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT4 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 81[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 1975[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT5 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 2000[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT6 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 2000[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT7 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 2000[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| GT8 | Operating[1] | fossil gas: natural gas, fossil liquids: fuel oil[2] | 85[1] | gas turbine[1] | no[1] | 2000[1] | 2031 (planned)[2] |
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 300 | subcritical | – | 1956 | 2035 (planned)[3] |
| Unit 2 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 300 | subcritical | – | 1957 | 2035 (planned)[3] |
| Unit 3 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 327.6 | subcritical | – | 1959 | 2035 (planned)[3] |
| Unit 4 | Operating | coal: bituminous | 327.6 | subcritical | – | 1959 | 2035 (planned)[3] |
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 | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| GT1 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT2 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT3 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT4 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT5 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT6 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT7 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| GT8 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| Unit 1 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| Unit 3 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
| Unit 4 | Tennessee Valley Authority [100%] | Tennessee Valley Authority [100.0%] |
End of Coal Generation
In April 2021, TVA President Jeff Lyash said that he expect TVA to shut down Cumberland Steam Plant, Gallatin Fossil Plant, Kingston Fossil Plant and Shawnee Fossil Plant by 2035 without a detailed schedule.[4]
Background
The Gallatin power station has four coal-fired generating units and "net dependable generating capacity" of approximately 988 megawatts. TVA states that "the plant consumes some 12,350 tons of coal a day." Construction of the Gallatin power station commenced in 1953 and was commissioned in 1959. According to the TVA the "plant consumes about 8,900 tons of coal a day."[5]
Coal Source
In the EIA documents from database EIA923 there have not been reported any coal deliveries to the Gallatin Fossil Plant for the last couple of years, they are filed under the "Calvert City" name.
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 7,735,850 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 23,459 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 6,991 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 280 lb.
Legal challenges
Air
In 2011 TVA settled with the EPA to install upgraded pollution controls on Gallatin's four coal-fired boilers.
In April 2013 four environmental groups filed a lawsuit seeking to block the planned Gallatin retrofits, saying TVA's decision failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act because executives did not give sufficient consideration to the alternative scenarios, including closing Gallatin. According to the Sierra Club, TVA's decision would spend "$1 billion in customer money to prop up an obsolete coal plant."[6]
According to Scientific American: "[E]nvironmental groups are also angered by TVA's plans to use a former wildlife management area to store coal ash; the discharge of wastewater into Old Hickory Lake, a tributary of the Cumberland River; and the planned relocation of an aquatic research facility dedicated to endangered species."[6]
Water
On July 2, 2012, a coalition of environmental activist groups led by Earthjustice filed an appeal of a pollution permit issued for the plant with the Tennessee Water Quality Control Board, claiming the wastewater discharge permit from the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation does not limit toxic discharges into the water.[7]
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Gallatin Fossil 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.[8] 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.[9]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Gallatin Fossil Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 110 | $780,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 160 | $17,000,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 1,700 | $90,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 76 | $1,800,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 64 | $29,000,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 100 | $37,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Gallatin ranked 17th 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.[10] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[11]
Gallatin Fossil Plant ranked number 17 on the list, with 2,093,068 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[10]
Coal waste
Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Tennessee, 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.[12] The report mentioned Tennessee's Cumberland Steam Plant, Gallatin Fossil Plant and Johnsonville Fossil Plant as three sites that have groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.[13]
Groundwater contamination
In July 2011, tests found coal ash contamination in the groundwater of all but one of the 10 Tennessee Valley Authority plants assessed, including two sites where investigators say the pollution could pose a health hazard. The inspector general’s assessment pointed in particular to the contamination at the Gallatin Fossil Plant and Cumberland Steam Plant in Tennessee. Excessive levels of arsenic and other toxic metals from coal ash were detected at Cumberland, 50 miles northwest of Nashville, while beryllium, cadmium and nickel were discovered at Gallatin.
In addition, the inspector general said that TVA officials for more than 10 years have found indications that toxic metals could be leaking from a coal ash pond at the authority’s Allen Fossil Plant. Arsenic above currently allowable levels was found repeatedly in a monitoring well at the site, which lies above a deep, high-quality aquifer that supplies drinking water to Memphis and nearby areas.
A TVA spokeswoman told the newspaper in an email that, at the time of the testing at Allen, the contamination levels were within limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. However, the inspector general’s report said that arsenic levels exceeded a tighter standard later adopted by the EPA.[14]
Citizen groups
- LEAF - Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship
- Save Our Cumberland Mountains
- Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network
- United Mountain Defense
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 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 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) - ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 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) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20240524005312/https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2024/02/19/tva-pushes-to-replace-kingston-coal-plant-with-natural-gas-by-2027/72629274007/. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "TVA announces plans to end coal-fired generation by 2035" IEEFA.org, April 29, 2021
- ↑ Tennessee Valley Authority, "Gallatin Fossil Plant", Tennessee Valley Authority website, accessed June 2008.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Daniel Cusick, "U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants: Update or Close? The owners of power plants that burn coal are playing high-stakes poker as they decide whether to install expensive pollution controls or shut down," Scientific American, May 20, 2013.
- ↑ Michael P. Tremoglie, "Battle heats up over coal-fired energy permit in Tennessee," Legal News Online, July 6, 2012.
- ↑ "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
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 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.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Toxic Metals from Coal Ash Found in Groundwater at TVA Power Plants" Fair Warning, July 26, 2011.
Additional data
To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
