Proposed air quality permit for Smith Power plant
To Whom It May Concern,
Please support clean air and the health of Kentuckians by denying East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s draft air permit for their proposed coal-burning Smith power plant. This power plant poses an unacceptable and avoidable risk to Kentuckians.
The Smith plant will emit disease-causing pollutants such as particulate matter, also known as soot. As one of the most deadly air pollutants, there are no safe levels of soot. Every year, the soot and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants send hundreds of Kentuckians to an early grave due to illnesses such as asthma, lung cancer and heart attacks.
Additionally, Kentucky already has an advisory against eating fish caught anywhere in the state due to mercury pollution. Adding the Smith plant—which will burn waste coal that has an even higher mercury content than regular coal—will only add to this already enormous health and environmental risk in our state.
Also, the Smith plant will produce harmful emissions that create smog. Smog has detrimental health effects such as asthma and lung damage, and it even kills people. EKPC claims that the units at the Smith plant will be very similar to their Spurlock Units #3 and #4 in northern Kentucky. That is unfortunate because EKPC’s own monitor shows that the level of smog near Spurlock Units #3 and #4 exceeds the federal healthy levels and is unsafe.
Finally, all of the pollution from the proposed Smith plant can be avoided. EKPC has an alternative before them that would cost less than the Smith plant. If they invested in an aggressive program of energy efficiency, weatherization, and renewable energies, EKPC could offset the energy that would be generated by the Smith plant and prevent the emission of pollutants that will only bring more harm to Kentuckians.
Kentucky simply cannot afford any more dirty coal-burning plants in our state. We urge you to stand on the side of clean air and public health by rejecting the draft permit.
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