Via elephantjournal.com

on Jun 24, 2009

Can Boulder, Colorado close its old school Valmont Coal Plant?

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?Â
–
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, 2009

FACT: 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, Colorado

Coal
-Tons Coal Used (2007)                     535,000 Tons
-Approximate Coal Cost (2007)          $26 million
-Cost Per MMBTU (2007)                   $1.78

Emissions
-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 gallons

Fly 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 2015

Greenhouse 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 Years

Year 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 training

Date:       Thursday July 9, 2009
Time:       7 – 9 pm
Where:    St. John’s Episcopal Church
1419 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80303

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