Leland Olds Station
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Leland Olds Station is an operating power station of at least 656-megawatts (MW) in Stanton, Mercer, North Dakota, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Leland Olds Station | Stanton, Mercer, North Dakota, United States | 47.28105, -101.320469 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2: 47.28105, -101.320469
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal: lignite | 216 | subcritical | 1966 |
| Unit 2 | operating | coal: lignite | 440 | subcritical | 1975 |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Basin Electric Power Cooperative [100%] | Basin Electric Power Cooperative [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Basin Electric Power Cooperative [100%] | Basin Electric Power Cooperative [100.0%] |
Background
In June 2024, an initial ruling by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission judge rebuked the Basin Electric Cooperative for "failing to conduct any serious, expertise-based comparison of the coal units’ prospective costs with the all-in costs of alternative generation portfolios."[1] The ruling supported arguments by the Sierra Club, which said that Basin had "acted imprudently by spending tens of millions of dollars on upgrades at the Laramie River and Leland Olds coal-fired power plants to comply with environmental rules without first evaluating whether it was more cost-effective for ratepayers to commit to retire both plants in the 2020s instead."[2]
Emissions Data
- 2006 CO2 Emissions: 4,808,205 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions: 40,027 tons
- 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
- 2006 NOx Emissions: 9,429 tons
- 2005 Mercury Emissions: 340 lb.
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Leland Olds Station
n 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.[3] 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 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 Leland Olds Station. 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.[4]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Leland Olds Station
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 26 | $190,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 40 | $4,400,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 440 | $23,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 19 | $440,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 16 | $7,100,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 26 | $10,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Coal Waste Sites
Leland Olds ranked 19th 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.[5] The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.[6]
Leland Olds Station ranked number 19 on the list, with 1,937,821 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.[5]
Coal Ash Waste and Groundwater Contamination at Leland Olds
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that North Dakota, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that is 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.[7] The report mentioned North Dakota's Antelope Valley Station and Leland Olds Station as sites that have groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.[8]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "Initial Decision re Basin Electric Power Cooperative under ER20-2441 et al.," Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, June 11, 2024
- ↑ "FERC Judge Rules Nation’s Largest Rural Electric Co-op Failed to Assess Coal Alternatives," Sierra Club, June 11, 2024
- ↑ "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
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 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.
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.
