Excerpt: In order to determine the public health impacts of operating or retiring an older coal plant, KEF conducted a Health Impacts Assessment (HIA) around TVA’s Shawnee plant. The Shawnee HIA identifies the myriad of public health impacts that would arise if TVA upgrades Shawnee with modern pollution controls or if TVA retires the entire Shawnee coal plant. These impacts range from physical health impacts to economic impacts that affect a community’s access to health care and jobs that provide health insurance. Industrial jobs have been a mainstay in western Kentucky and retiring Shawnee could potentially put a strain on area workers who have depended on the work for maintaining income for food and housing. At the same time, coal power plant emissions have contributed to the region’s poor air and water quality, potentially affecting increased rates of asthma and cardiac health concerns, and compromising water resources that threaten public health and aquatic ecosystems. Retrofitting the plant would extend the life of the aging facility but the question continues to remain: at what expense? blog.cleanenergy.org/2014/11/20/kentucky-group-studies-health-effects-of-aging-tva-coal-plant/ #coalash #KY #Kentucky
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 19:00:01 +0000
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