Update:
Hey Waylon! Now is the time to spread news re the public permit hearings on
Tuesday, JULY 14, 2009
regarding the Valmont Coal Plant in Boulder, Colorado, far and wide.
So far we are expecting 500 or so folks. I’d like to make that 10,000. What do you think you can do? 😉
—
Branden Barber | Development Director | Rainforest Action Network
Via Waylon Lewis:
We think we’re green, but we got big jai-normous smoke stacks sticking out of our Great Plains horizon to the east of our otherwise greener-than-some Boulder, Colorado.
If there is no such thing as clean coal, why are we wasting so much energy and so many resources? Shouldn’t we be looking to clean energy such as wind and solar power and to other renewable resources?
VALMONT COAL PLANT AIR PERMIT HEARING
Tuesday, JULY 14, 2009FACT: The Valmont coal plant adds about 2 pounds of mercury a month to the environment and consumes about 2 million gallons of water a day.
FACT: The Valmont coal plant has been off line for months at a time in the past half year–do we really need it?
FACT: Xcel has 15,000 MW of wind, solar and biomass bids sitting on their desks while the Valmont Plant is only 186 MW ( on its good days.)LOGIC: Shouldn’t we be spending our energy dollars on clean Colorado wind and solar projects instead of on coal from Wyoming and creating 7 million pounds of CO2 per day while Colorado solar and wind projects await development?
Facts about Boulder’s coal plant:
Xcel’s Valmont Coal Plant
Boulder, ColoradoCoal
-Tons Coal Used (2007) 535,000 Tons
-Approximate Coal Cost (2007) $26 million
-Cost Per MMBTU (2007) $1.78Emissions
-Approx. CO2 Emitted Per Year 1.3 Million Tons
-Approx. SO2 Emitted Per Year 500 Tons
-Approx. NOx Emitted Per Year 1600 Tons
-Approx. Mercury Emitted Per Year 20-40 Pounds
Water
-Acre Feet Consumed Per Year 2459 acre-feet/yr
-Approx. Gallons Consumed Per Year 801 million gallons
-Approx. Gallons Per Day 2.1 million gallonsFly Ash
-Tons Fly Ash Produced (2007) 91,408 Tons
-Cost of Fly Ash Disposal (2007 Non-Labor) $425,623
-Location of Fly Ash Disposal On site until 2015Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies for Eliminating 1.3 Million Tons of CO2
-Eliminating 215, 996 Passenger Vehicles
-Elliminating the Electricity Use of 156, 204 Households
-Planting 30 Million Seedlings and Keeping Them Alive for 10 YearsYear Opened: 1964
Original Cost: $121 Million
Maximum Summer Capacity: 186 MW (Note: this plant was off line much of October 2008 – March 2009 due to coal resource and technical problems; may average 160 MW or less in future years)Opportunities for the Public to make a difference:
Title V Permit (to pollute) Public Comment Hearing
Date: Tuesday July 14, 2009
Time: Public gathering – 4:30 – 6:00 pm–Community Picnic, Beyond Coal Rally, Skits, Music etc.
Actual Hearing – 6:00 – 9:00 pm — Actual Public Hearing on Valmont Air Permit
Where: Boulder County Courthouse
1325 Pearl Street (“On the Mall”)Hearing Training (Optional)
If you want to know more about pollution from the Valmont plant, the air permit process and the key issues that are in play come to this optional trainingDate: Thursday July 9, 2009
Time: 7 – 9 pm
Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church
1419 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80303
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