San Miguel Electric Cooperative

The San Miguel Electric Cooperative is a coal-fired power station near Christina, Texas which is owned and operated by San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc.

Plant Data

 * Owner: San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc.
 * Parent Company: Brazos Electric Power Cooperative and South Texas Electric Cooperative
 * Plant Nameplate Capacity: 390 MW (Megawatts)
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 1982
 * Location: 6200 F.M. 3387, Christina, TX 78012
 * GPS Coordinates: 28.704348, -98.476993
 * Coal Consumption: 1.9 million tons/year
 * Coal Source: San Miguel Mine
 * Number of Employees: 183

EPA Emissions Data

 * 2002 CO2 Emissions: 3,589,409 tons
 * 2002 SO2 Emissions: 13,173 tons
 * 2002 NOx Emissions: 7,120 tons
 * 2006 Mercury Emissions: 287 pounds

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from San Miguel Electric Cooperative
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 San Miguel Electric Cooperative
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

==Toxic Waste Data ==
 * Chromium Waste: 28,472.1 pounds
 * Air Release: 13.1 pounds
 * Land Release (Land Treatment/Surface Impoundment): 28,459 pounds
 * Dioxin Waste: 5.35 grams
 * Air Release: 5.35 grams
 * Lead Waste: 52,259.2 pounds
 * Air Release: 1,452.2 pounds
 * Land Release (Land Treatment/Surface Impoundment): 50,807 pounds
 * Mercury Waste: 1,341 pounds
 * Land Release (Land Treatment/Surface Impoundment): 1,054 pounds
 * Nickel Waste: 19,409.1 pounds
 * Air Release: 9.1 pounds
 * Land Release (Land Treatment/Surface Impoundment): 19,380 pounds
 * Selenium Waste: 20,787.1 pounds
 * Air Release: 10.1 pounds
 * Land Release (Land Treatment/Surface Impoundment): 20,777 pounds

Related SourceWatch Articles

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