Thursday, July 09, 2009
Grain Processing Corp. Plant, Muscatine, Iowa (photo: Muscatine First)
Operators of one of the largest coal-burning plants in Iowa have been manipulating air pollution findings by changing the type of coal burned at critical times. Whenever the wind shifts direction near the Grain Processing Corp. facility in Muscatine, plant officials switch from burning high-sulfur coal to a low-sulfur variety—which results in a nearby sulfur-dioxide sensor picking up lower emission readings.
“That kind of thing violates the principles of what an ambient monitor should tell us,” Susan Heathcote, a member of the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, told the Des Moines Register. “It needs to have an accurate picture of what’s going into the air during normal conditions,” so the state can accurately set policies for air pollution standards.
A company spokeswoman admitted the plant does switch from high-sulfur to low-sulfur coal, but that it does so “to maintain good air quality in Muscatine” when the wind shifts, and not to trick state environmental watchers.
Burning low-sulfur coal can be especially beneficial for children at Garfield Elementary School, located about a half-mile from the coal plant. The air around the school is considered some of the most polluted of any school in the country.
Grain Processing’s coal swaps are not illegal, nor do they violate the company’s permits, says Brian Hutchins, head of compliance for the state Department of Natural Resources air quality bureau. However, he could think of no other example of a company “trying to take some measures to prevent, perhaps, an exceedance at the monitor.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Investigation: Plant Switches Coal, Fooling Air Monitors (by Chase Davis, Des Moines Register)
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