The university-owned Charter Street power plant—known for its single brick smokestack and mountains of coal—has not drawn widespread criticism since a baghouse was installed in 1988 to reduce the once visible cloud of black soot. However, an impending lawsuit by the Sierra Club has brought the plant into the public eye once again.
Serving the campus since 1958, the plant operates on five steam-generating boilers, three of which were part of the original factory, built in 1952 and purchased used from the Huston Motorcar Company.
""Anything you use for that many years becomes more inefficient every year,"" said Jennifer Feyerherm, Wisconsin Clean Energy Campaign coordinator for the Sierra Club.
The Charter Street plant operates similar to other coal-burning plants. Coal is transported in and fed to the boilers, which generate steam at 720 degrees. The steam powers turbines, generating electricity for campus.
According to Mike Grimmenga, power plant superintendent, pollution occurs during the burning stage. Coal contains a large amount of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere in the form of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.
The Sierra Club contends the university failed to meet the provision of the 1977 amendment to the Clean Air Act, requiring the ""best available pollution control technologies"" be implemented when upgrading a plant.
The Charter Street plant has undergone various upgrades to its boilers between 1998 and 2004—changes the Sierra Club said did not include the installation of adequate pollution controls. Although the plant operates within emission standards, the lawsuit claims the plant is less efficient and generates more pollution than if better controls were installed.
The intent to sue was filed in December and states, ""The facilities annually have emitted thousands of tons of unlawful and harmful pollutants into the air breathed by Sierra Club members and other Madison and Dane County residents.""
These pollutants do more than diminish air quality. Carbon monoxide particles are small enough to be transferred from the lungs into the blood stream, hindering the ability of red blood cells to absorb oxygen.
The EPA estimates emissions from coal burning cause over 470 premature deaths in Wisconsin each year.
The Sierra Club faults UW-Madison for failing to live up to its image as a world leader in environmental studies and climate research.
""I think it's really sad that where groundbreaking global warming research is being done, we're using the most polluting fuel we possibly can,"" Feyerherm said. ""It would be nice to see the university step up to the plate and be a leader.""
