Sep 9, 20203 min read

Are You Concerned about the Re-Opening of the Gibbons Creek Coal-Powered Plant?

The Gibbons Creek Coal-Powered Plant is Only

20 Miles Away from BC/S.

If you have concerns about the potential sale of the closed power plant

to an Arizona company & the firing up of the coal,

then you may want to attend The TMPA Board Meeting.

Tomorrow, Thursday, Sept 10 at 10am.

The Status Of The Potential Sale Of The To Be Held will be discussed.

TMPA Agenda, Item 10:

Status Report relating to the potential sale of

the Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station,

If you register soon enough, you will be able to post questions and comments.

Why is TMPA considering selling Gibbons Creek Coal-powered plant to an Arizona company, and why is this being kept a secret?

What does this company plan to do with the plant, and why is this being kept a secret?

People living near coal-fired power plants have higher death rates and die at earlier ages.
Coal-fired power plants emit 84 of the 187 hazardous air pollutants previously identified by the U.S. EPA.
The U.S. NIH has well established the association of the air pollutants with asthma, cancer, heart and lung ailments, neurological problems and severe public health impacts.
Even the cleanest coal processing (CO2-capturing) does not eliminate the release of mercury, nitrogen oxide, and other poisonous contaminants into the air.
Micro-particulates from coal-fired plants that are breathed in enter the blood stream directly from the lungs affecting vital organ systems.
The micro-particulates serve as physical carriers of the COVID virus into the body through the lungs, predisposing individuals to COVID.
The community cannot risk their health especially during the pandemic.

The radioactive material in coal ash, a byproduct of burnt coal, contaminates water ways and groundwater with dangerous radioactive chemicals and toxic heavy metals (selenium, mercury, cadmium and arsenic) that are all associated with cancer, according to the EPA.
Water contamination around the site has been documented in the TMPA’s well-monitoring report published in January 2020. Some of this contamination was deemed related to coal plant operation, and corrective actions were recommended.

Bryan, Denton, Garland, Greenville and surrounding areas will not benefit from more potential energy on the electric power grid since the coal-generated energy is much too expensive for BTU to buy.
BTU voted in Oct. 2019 to close the plant because it was a financial drain on the BTU budget to operate even part-time.
TX has many sources of less expensive renewable energy.

Funds for clean-up have already been set aside by BTU and the TMPA-associated cities.
Reopening the plant will delay clean-up and pollution will continue.
Motivation for the new owner to clean up the site is questionable, particularly in the new anti-regulatory environment emerging at the EPA.
The company can pack up and skip town leaving us with a big dirty mess.
We should not put our environmental fate in the hands of a private and unvetted out-of-state buyer who’s only concern in our region is to make money at our expense.