Marion Plant

The Marion Plant was listed as a new coal plant project by the National Energy Tech Lab survey "Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants" in May 2007. However, no new coal units have been built at this site. Instead, three 1963-vintage units and one 1978-vintage unit have received upgrades.

Units 1-3 were built in 1963 and are 33 megawatts (MW) each. Unit 4 (173 MW) was built in 1978. Since 2000 Units 1-3 were upgraded to use circulating fluidized bed technology. Unit 4 received a selective catalytic reduction retrofit to reduce emissions.

The cooperative planned to add a 140 MW "combustion turbine" in 2003 and an additional 70 MW of unspecified capacity in 2007. As of the 2006 Energy Information Agency powerplant database, the company had added two 70 MW gas-fired turbines.

In 2001, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) issued a violation notice to SIPC for alleged failure to maintain and operate the power plant’s Unit #4 generator in a manner consistent with good air pollution control practices, which resulted in more than 2,000 alleged instances of unacceptably high particulate emissions and excessive sulfur dioxide emissions. Such emissions can contribute to acid rain and aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma.

Project Details
Sponsor: Southern Illinois Power Cooperative Location: Marion, Illinois Size: Type: Projected in service: Status:

Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination
In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Illinois, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that was not recognized 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 Illinois' Joliet 9 Generating Station, Marion Plant and Venice Power Station were three sites that have groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.

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

 * Marion Gasification Plant
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * Illinois and coal
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)