Lovett power station
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Lovett power station is a retired power station in Tomkins Cover, New York, United States.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Lovett power station | Tomkins Cover, New York, United States | 41.25778, -73.97972 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 4, Unit 5: 41.25778, -73.97972
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 4 | retired | coal: unknown | 179.5 | subcritical | 1966 | 2007 |
| Unit 5 | retired | coal: unknown | 200.6 | subcritical | 1969 | 2008 |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 4 | GenOn Holdings Inc [100%] | GenOn Holdings Inc [100.0%] |
| Unit 5 | GenOn Holdings Inc [100%] | GenOn Holdings Inc [100.0%] |
Background
Lovett is a retired coal-fired power station in the state of New York, United States.[1]
The Lovett Power Station was constructed and commissioned in 1955 by Orange and Rockland Utilities. The plant used the Hudson River as its water source. Units 4 and 5 (with 180 and 201 megawatts of capacity respectively) were built in 1966-1969. Originally fitted with several oil-fired boilers, in 1986, the plant was converted to run entirely on coal after Orange and Rockland contracted the Hatzel & Buehler group for renovations. Orange and Rockland Utilities sold the plant to GenOn (formerly Mirant) in 1999.[2]
In 2003, GenOn entered the 2003 Clean Air Act consent decree with the State of New York, which mandated that they reduce air pollution emissions. After being sued by New York State, GenOn agreed to install $100 million worth of pollution control technology at its coal-fired plant or face forced closure.[3] Later, a spokesman for GenOn had stated that the company had decided not to upgrade the power plant because the costs of installing new technology at the facility, which the spokesman described as 'vintage,' were too high.[3]
Four years later, in May 2007, the State of New York shut down the Lovett plant after GenOn had not installed appropriate pollution controls. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis said that the closure would result in an almost 50% decrease in air pollution from the Lovett coal-fired power plant, thus improving air quality throughout the region and protecting the local economy.[4]
Unit 4 was shut down on May 7, 2007, while Unit 5 was allowed to operate until April 30, 2008. Mirant was ordered to fund $1 million worth of energy conservation and efficiency projects for the North Rockland County.[4]
Pollution & Health Concerns
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions were incredibly high at the Lovett facility; in 2003, environmental officials had determined that the Lovett power plant was responsible for a quarter of the sulfur dioxide and almost a third of the nitrogen oxide released by electric generators in the neighboring seven counties.[3]
The issue of asbestos at the Lovett plant also concerned many; according to Levy Law, asbestos exposure was high from the 1950s to 2000s. In 1986, renovators discovered that the plant was removing asbestos from machinery in violation of OSHA standards, which may have exposed hundreds of employees and independent contractors to large amounts of the toxic substance. There was no plan to remove existing asbestos during the plant's operation or after the plant was shut down.[2]
2001 Explosion
In May 2001, there was an explosion at Unit 5; the cause of which is still unknown. One worker was injured non-critically and the entire facility was shut down. The unit was not in operation at the time of the blast; no asbestos was released as a result of the incident.[5]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "Lovett Power Station". www.energyjustice.net. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Orange and Rockland's Lovett Power Plant - Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma in Tompkins Cove, New York". Levy Konigsberg. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Foderaro, Lisa (May 11, 2007). "State Closes Coal-Fired Plant That Failed to Limit Emissions". New York Times. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "New York State Reaches Historic "win-win-win" Agreement With Mirant Over Lovett Plant". New York State Office of the Attorney General. May 10, 2007. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ NGI Staff (May 21, 2001). "Blast at NY Mirant Plant Injures One". Natural Gas Intel. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
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.
