Fox Valley Sierra Group

Pulliam Power Plant

Our clean air laws are supposed to protect the air we breathe. However, they do not work when they are ignored, such as when WPS pumps an illegal amount of soot into our air.

WPS acknowledged breaking the law when community groups announced that they would sue if WPS did not clean up the old, dirty Pulliam plant. WPS tried to excuse the plant by saying that it doesn't break the law very often. Apparently WPS does not believe that our laws apply to everyone all of the time.

Tuesday's dirty air affected all of us who have children, are at risk for a heart attack, suffer from asthma, or work, exercise or play outside. Health advisories are on the rise - we've seen two in two weeks because of air pollution. And every quarter for the last five years, the WPS Pulliam plant has put illegal amounts of that very pollution into our air.

WPS insults our community when they say that we should let them damage our lungs and increase our risk of dying from a heart attack, so long as they don't do it very often. We have laws to protect the air we breathe. It is time for WPS to follow the law and clean up their act so we can all breathe easier.

Highlights:

The J.P. Pulliam coal-fired power plant uses old technology that was grandfathered into the Clean Air Act of 1977. It was expected, at the time, that grandfathered powerplants would all be upgraded within 20 years. Wisconsin Public Service Corporation has used loopholes to avoid having to make upgrades required by law since 1977.

The J.P. Pulliam coal-fired power plant violated its air permit every quarter for the last five years, pumping illagal amounts of asthma and heart attack causing pollution into the air. Regulators are not enforcing the law.

Soot, smog and mercury are the biggest threats from coal-fired power plants. The Pulliam power plant emits more than half of all these pollutants that comes from all smokestacks in all of Brown County. The Pulliam plant is among the dirtiest coal plants in the nation, ranking seventh for its sulfur dioxide emissions. It is the second highest nitrogen oxide polluter in the entire state of Wisconsin.

Every single lake, stream and river in Wisconsin is polluted by mercury. The DNR’s fish advisory for mercury contamination extends to every lake, stream and river in the entire state. Fish have unsafe mercury levels and must be eaten with caution.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a recent study that measured mercury levels in the blood of women across the country and found that about one in six women of childbearing age have mercury levels above what is considered safe by the EPA. This translates to 4.7 million women of childbearing age nationwide with potentially unsafe levels of mercury and approximately 630,000 newborns in the nation who are at risk of neurological and developmental health impacts each year.

Coal plant pollution is responsible for 448 deaths in Wisconsin each year, and 24,000 in the United States each year.

Pollution from the J.P. Pulliam power plant values corporate profits more than it values citizen health. Health care is expensive, and is partly attributed to polluters like Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's Pulliam power plant. It is time to change that priority.

The American Lung Association gives Green Bay a failing grade because of smog. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's coal-fired Pulliam power plant continues to be the biggest source of asthma-causing soot and smog pollution in Brown County. Recently, Clean Wisconsin and Sierra Club uncovered WPSs own documentation of repeated violations of clean air protections at their coal-fired plant. The Pulliam power plant lacks modern pollution controls and has actually increased the amount of pollution it spews. Modern pollution controls can reduce soot, smog, and mercury pollution by over 90%. Contact Jennifer Feyerherm of the Sierra Club and Katie Nekola of Clean Wisconsin for ideas on what you can do to make WPS clean up its act!

For more information: Sierra Club Midwest Office 214 North Henry St, Suite 203 Madison, WI 53703 Phones: Sierra Club at 608-257-4994 or Clean Wisconsin at 608-251-7020 ext 14