Henderson Station I (KY)

Henderson Station I is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by the Henderson City Utility Commission in Henderson, Kentucky. Citing rising costs and mounting environmental regulations, Henderson Municipal Power and Light planned to close its 58-year-old Station One power plant on Water Street by Dec. 31, 2008. HMP&L said it told the 13 full-time employees at the plant that it would assist them in identifying new job openings at HMP&L, the city of Henderson or the Henderson Station Two power plant. According to HMP&L General Manager Gary Quick, "There are constantly openings at Station Two and other plants out there."

Plant Data

 * Owner: Henderson City Utility Commission
 * Parent Company: City of Henderson, KY
 * Plant Nameplate Capacity: 43.8 MW (Megawatts)
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 11.5 MW (1956), 32.3 MW (1968)
 * Location: 100 5th St., Henderson, KY 42420
 * GPS Coordinates: 37.845, -87.591311
 * Electricity Production: 74,633 MWh (2005)
 * Coal Consumption:
 * Coal Source:
 * Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

 * CO2 Emissions:
 * SO2 Emissions: 2,261 tons (2005)
 * SO2 Emissions per MWh: 60.59 lb/MWh
 * NOx Emissions: 424 tons (2005)
 * Mercury Emissions:

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Henderson Station I
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. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma-related episodes and asthma-related emergency room visits, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, peneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution is formed from a combination of soot, acid droplets, and heavy metals formed from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and soot. Among those particles, the most dangerous are the smallest (smaller than 2.5 microns), 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. 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.

The table below estimates the death and illness attributable to the Henderson Station I. 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 Henderson Station I
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Coal phase-out
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Kentucky and coal
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming