Columbia Energy Center

Columbia Energy Center is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Alliant Energy and Madison Gas & Electric near Pardeeville, Wisconsin.

Permit Issues and Sierra Club Lawsuit
In March of 2008 Alliant Energy based in Madison, Wisconsin received a notice of intent to sue from the Sierra Club. The notice claimed that the company did not file applications for air permit renewal on a timely basis and in doing so violated the Clean Air Act. In 2009, as a result of pressure from the Sierra Club and others, the federal government revoked its permit to the Columbia Energy Center. The result could mean that Alliant will be forced to install pollution reduction equipment or it could mean shutting down the facility for good.

On April 22, 2013, WP&L settled air pollution violations with the EPA by agreeing to spend $1.2 billion to clean up coal-fired power plants and shut down older plants. The company agreed to stop burning coal at the Nelson Dewey Generating Station in Cassville and two of the three boilers at the Edgewater Generating Station in Sheboygan, retiring 590 megawatts of coal. The company will also add pollution controls to the Edgewater Generating Station and the Columbia Energy Center in Portage, co-owned by Madison Gas & Electric.

Plant Data

 * Owner: Wisconsin Power & Light Company
 * Parent Company: Alliant Energy
 * Plant Nameplate Capacity: 1,023 MW
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 512 MW (1975), 511 MW (1978)
 * Location: W. 8375 Murray Rd., Pardeeville, WI 53954
 * GPS Coordinates: 43.4864, -89.4203
 * Coal Consumption:
 * Coal Source:
 * Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

 * 2006 CO2 Emissions: 7,912,253 tons
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions: 22,396 tons
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
 * 2006 NOx Emissions: 5,146 tons
 * 2005 Mercury Emissions: 460 lb.

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Columbia Energy Center
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Columbia Energy Center
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Wisconsin, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that was not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report, in an attempt to pressure the EPA to regulate coal ash, noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites. The report mentioned Wisconsin's Columbia Energy Center and Oak Creek Power Plant as two sites that have groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.

Coal Waste Sites

 * Columbia Energy Center Landfill Storm Water Pond
 * Columbia Energy Center Primary Ash Pond
 * Columbia Energy Center Secondary Ash Pond

Other coal waste sites
To see a nationwide list of over 350 coal waste sites in the United States, click here. To see a listing of coal waste sites in a particular state, click on the map:



Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Wisconsin and coal
 * Alliant Energy
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming