Dear 'Links,
Ever since Thursday night when we heard the Governor say that he and the owners of the Salem Harbor Station which still burns dirty coal, will have something to tell us in two weeks, we began to wonder about the possibilities. With the passage into law of The Green Communities Act and Global Warming Solutions Act in Massachusetts and the fact that this plant is no longer needed long-term for reliability, it appears that the owners are going to switch fuels. There are some poor choices in terms of public health they may be considering.
1. Biomass: This could be any range of substances from pure wood chips to animal waste. The plant is just too old, too big and too poorly situated for that.
2. Paper burning: Hazardous air pollutants like dioxins are produced; this would require additional abatement technology.
3. Trash: Expensive abatement technology is needed to trap particulates and hazardous air pollutants.
4. Coal Gasification: High-priced plant rebuilding necessary for this - and there is no place to put the CO2.
5. Gas: The financial bottom line has changed; is it now profitable to hook up to those nearby lines?
And how about the possibility of getting imaginative? Dominion could replace this dangerous, old clunker with an efficient, cleaner, small gas-fired peaking plant that feeds electricity into the handy transmission lines. It could even use some of the gas produced from its neighbor, the South Essex Sewerage Plant. The rest of their site could be re-developed instead of storing a gargantuan coal pile and oil tanks on it.
What's the plan, Dominion? The community you impact awaits your news.
State, power plant are in 'green' talks
Salem News - May 23, 2009
Tom Dalton, Staff Writer
SALEM - If Gov. Deval Patrick has a major announcement to make about the Salem Harbor Station, nobody seems to know what it is....
The best guess, several people said, is that the governor hopes to make an announcement about the exploration of alternative fuels or renewable energy options for the 745-megawatt coal- and oil- burning plant... Read more
Patrick: Plower plant news likely
Salem News - May 22, 2009
Alan Burke, Staff writer
MARBLEHEAD - Gov. Deval Patrick played "I've Got a Secret" with a mostly supportive crowd of about 150 people at the high school library last night.
 In a forum meant to address the state's daunting budget crisis, Patrick took a question from an anti-Salem power plant activist and in response revealed that an important announcement could be coming.
The governor said he was in talks with Dominion, [VA] owners of the plant: "And we shall have something to say in couple of weeks." During the forum and in a brief interview afterward, he declined to be more specific... Read more
LETTER: Salem plant needs to be retired, now by Jane Bright
Marblehead Reporter - May 18, 2009
Dear Editor:
I can relate to the Salem Power Plant's maintenance problems. We are both getting up there in age.
A couple of weeks ago, the Salem plant had another tube rupture. This is the same problem that killed three innocent employees in November 2007. This one mercifully, was contained and no one was hurt. It is, however, another dramatic reminder of how old the plant is... Read more
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