2009.06.03
Those nasty particulates
In years past, the EPA warned the Roanoke Valley about high levels of fine particulates in the air - not the sort of thing a healthy person might notice, but a serious cause of respiratory and coronary problems. There's bad new about those particulates, as reported yesterday in The New York Times:
"A new appraisal of existing studies documenting the links between tiny soot particles and premature death from cardiovascular ailments shows that mortality rates among people exposed to the particles are twice as high as previously thought."
If you want to dig into the analysis by the Health Effects Institute, you can link to it on its home page. Look for Extended Follow-up and Spatial Analysis of the American Cancer Society Study Linking Particulate Air Pollution and Mortality.
Now take a deep breath. Or not.
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Speaking of particulates, here's a link to the new 1.8 billion dollar coal fired power plant under construction in southwest Va.
http://midatlantic.construction.com/features/archive/2009/summer09_F1_HybridEnergyCenter.asp
Comment by Blue John — June 3, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
Well I hope for that kind of money that the pollution and damage will be mitigated to the best of technology's ability. It is hard to argue against power generation but it is also hard to argue for poisoning to get it. Wonder what, if any other options were considered for power generation there? That is a huge project and it is reusing a brown field with some high tech safety and pollution efforts. Oh, the dilemma of being a Liberal needing electricity huh?
Comment by Sandi Saunders — June 3, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
Sandi,
It appears that Dominion Power is trying to do the right thing. After all, they have HYBRID in their name. Time will tell about the pollution from the plant, but I wish natural gas had been the primary fuel source.
Comment by Blue John — June 3, 2009 @ 11:43 pm