The Schiller Station power plant in Portsmouth as seen from across the Piscataqua River in Eliot, Maine.Rich Beauchesne/rbeauchesne@seacoastonline.com
NEWINGTON — Three power plants along the Piscataqua River are all contributors to New Hampshire's ignominious status as one of the 20 worst states in the nation for emissions from power plants, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. However, their role pales in comparison to that of Public Service of New Hampshire's coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow. Fortunately, officials said, the plant is undergoing upgrades that will drastically reduce emissions within the next two years.
The Granite State is 19th on the "Toxic 20" list of states with the most toxic air pollution from power plants, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council released this week. Topping the list were Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.
At a glance
N.H.'s top power plant polluters in terms of total pounds of toxic emissions in 2009:
PSNH Merrimack Station, Bow: 2,254,216 pounds
PSNH Schiller Station, Portsmouth: 223,866 pounds
PSNH Newington Station: 29,604 pounds
NAEA Newington Power: 11,271 pounds
Indeck Alexandria, Alexandria: 720 pounds
The report analyzed publicly available data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory. Facilities that release significant quantities of toxic chemicals must report them to TRI annually.
"These self-reported data reveal that power plants are largely responsible for contaminating our air with toxic chemicals," according to a news release that accompanied the release of the report.
The analysis found the electric sector is the largest source of industrial (stack) emissions of toxic air pollution in the United States. In 2009, coal- and oil-fired power plants accounted for nearly 50 percent of all reported toxic pollution from industrial sources, the study found.
Exposure to toxic pollution from power plants, including hydrochloric acid, mercury and other metals, is known or believed to contribute to or exacerbate a wide variety of health conditions including cancer and birth defects, the report said.
In New Hampshire, where electric-sector mercury regulations are less stringent than what the EPA proposes, the electric sector contributes 96 percent of all the state's toxic air pollution, the report said.
The state's electric sector emitted more than 2.5 million pounds of harmful chemicals in 2009, according to the report. The state ranks 38th among all states for mercury air pollution from power plants with 175 pounds emitted in 2009.
As a comparison, Maine is the third-lowest state for toxic emissions from the electric sector, with just six pounds of harmful chemicals released in 2009, the study revealed.
New Hampshire's top power plant polluter is by far PSNH's Merrimack Station, which emitted 2,254,216 pounds in 2009. PSNH's Newington Station and Schiller Station, straddling the Portsmouth/Newington border, along with North American Energy Alliance's Newington Power station, rounded out the list of top four power plant polluters.
With its vast swaths of wilderness and largely rural feel, it might be hard to imagine New Hampshire near the top of any "most toxic" list. Bob Scott, director of the Air Services Division of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, said the good news is that an ongoing project will vastly cut the Merrimack Station's emissions.
The so-called "scrubber" project is visible to anyone driving down Interstate 93 in Bow, Scott said. The Merrimack Station is the largest coal-fired plant in the state and its emissions will be reduced by at least 80 percent once the project is complete, he said.
"Very soon that scrubber will be online," Scott said, explaining it was designed to eliminate sulfur dioxide but PSNH had it optimized to reduce mercury emissions as well. "They've made pretty good progress. Law requires them to be operational by July 2013."
PSNH spokesman Martin Murray said the $430 million Merrimack Station upgrades are on schedule to be finished a year before the deadline. Murray said the "very significant initiative" was state-mandated and stems from the Clean Power Act initiated when Jeanne Shaheen was governor.
Other attempts to reduce emissions can be seen on the Seacoast. At Schiller Station, PSNH replaced one of the three coal boilers there with one that now burns wood chips. Another boiler burns coal and a small amount of cocoa bean shells, Murray said.
The NRDC report "reflects the shared concern that we find new sources of clean energy. We're working hard to do that," Murray said. "We're also working, though, to clean up existing energy producers. Our latest initiative at Merrimack Station will result in one of the cleanest coal-fired plants in the country and we do not expect we'll be on that list if it's recreated in a couple of years from now."
Despite the optimism, others are attacking PSNH for its practices at the Merrimack Station. On Thursday, the Conservation Law Foundation, a group working toward a "coal-free New England," filed a federal Clean Air Act citizen suit in New Hampshire federal district court against PSNH. The suit makes claims against PSNH's "repeated failures to obtain required air permits" for the plant in Bow, along with numerous permit violations and illegal emissions.
"While PSNH would like people to think that they are undertaking this renovation in good faith, the reality is that they are propping up this old plant to protect their own assets at the great expense of ratepayers, public health and the environment," said Melissa Hoffer, vice president and director of the CLF's Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice program. "PSNH has embarked on a massive and costly effort to keep Merrimack Station online for decades to come and New Hampshire ratepayers will be forced to throw more and more of their good money after bad if this project moves forward."
Murray said Thursday that PSNH had not had time to review the complaint, but provided a June 9 letter from PSNH lawyer Barry Needleman to Hoffer about the notice of intent to sue.
"The claims in CLF's (Notice of Intent) are premised on a faulty and incomplete recitation of the factual record," the letter states. "It is PSNH's position that the alleged claims identified in the NOI have no merit and that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for CLF to pursue such claims in good faith."
As those parties prepare to battle in court, the NHDES's Scott said air pollution in New Hampshire will continue to dwindle.
"We weren't waiting for a report like this to say, 'oh gee, we should do something,'" he said. "As the science gets better, the standards are becoming more stringent. The trend is certainly that things are getting better."
At a glance
N.H.'s top power plant polluters in terms of total pounds of toxic emissions in 2009:
PSNH Merrimack Station, Bow: 2,254,216 pounds
PSNH Schiller Station, Portsmouth: 223,866 pounds
PSNH Newington Station: 29,604 pounds
NAEA Newington Power: 11,271 pounds
Indeck Alexandria, Alexandria: 720 pounds
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