Breaking: Major Victory - Deal Reached to Retire Old, Dirty Potomac River Coal Plant

Only a few short weeks ago, I stood on a boat in front of the ancient, dirty, and deadly GenOn coal plant in Alexandria, Virginia, and introduced Michael R. Bloomberg, philanthropist and Mayor of New York City, who then announced a game-changing gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies to the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. Today, major news about that notorious plant is breaking - the City of Alexandria and GenOn reached a deal to retire the Potomac River Generating Station by October 1, 2012.   

This filthy coal plant started operating in 1949 and still lacks modern pollution controls, making people sick by spewing coal pollution directly onto neighboring apartment buildings, homes, and businesses.

Today's announcement is a culmination of many years of hard work by local activists, concerned residents, civic leaders, the Sierra Club, and several allied organizations including Greenpeace, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light.

This agreement between GenOn and the City of Alexandria is a huge step towards moving the nation beyond coal.

Today's announcement is a path forward for both Alexandria and the power company that works for everybody, and truly reflects the interest of both parties," said Alexandria's Mayor William D. Euille in a news release. "This news strengthens Alexandria's future and opens the door to an enhanced quality of life for our residents."

Mayor Euille couldn't be more correct about quality of life. The Potomac plant is a coal-fired power plant situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia, directly across - and upwind from - Washington, D.C.'s, Ward 8 community. Recent Sierra Club pollution modeling results demonstrate that unhealthy levels of soot and smog travel downwind from the plant directly into Ward 8, impacting the health and well-being of thousands of D.C. residents both within and beyond the ward.

Over 400,000 residents in Virginia and Washington D.C. are directly impacted by pollution from the power plant, which according to a Sierra Club Environmental Law Program analysis releases more than 1,400 tons of pollutants into the air annually. This pollution trigger asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses, and contribute to heart disease, cancers and other illness and disease.

We should be clear - there is still a bit more work to do before this deal is completely sealed, as regulators and grid operators will have to approve the agreement, so we will need to keep the pressure on over the coming months to ensure the plant is retired. But we are very, very close to finally getting the relief from coal pollution that this region has long been seeking.

I can still remember standing in front of the coal plant on that July day with Mayor Bloomberg - our eyes were burning from the pollution, and we were sweltering in 100+ degree heat. I remember imagining how angry and scared I would be if I had to raise my young daughter in the shadow of those smokestacks, fearing every day for her health, her life, and her future.

This news will come as a tremendous relief to the families of Alexandria, and will serve as a beacon of hope for dozens of other communities just like it, living on the fence-line of deadly coal plants just like this one. The message is clear - working together, we can move our towns and cities, our states and our nation, beyond coal.  We applaud this decision and the hard work of so many committed residents who want a cleaner, healthier energy future for their community.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. Photos by Javier Sierra - top: The GenOn coal plant. Bottom: Mary Anne Hitt speaks as Michael R. Bloomberg looks on.

Comments

[Nancy Morgan]

I am thrilled and grateful to the Sierra Club for their relentless pursuit of the demise of the Mirant GenOn coal plant, just blocks from my home.

I have participated in your protests, joined the club when you shut the plant down temporarily a few summers ago, and now, with Mayor Bloomberg's help we are near the finish line, anticipating clear, clean skies for Alexandria and surrounding communities and reduced pollution in the Potomac River.

Way to go S.C.!

Nancy Morgan

Thank you for your persistence and perseverence.

[JC]

Great. Now how about closing the most dangerous plant in the world, the world's largest coke plant? We might not have protected politicians or as many rich and famous, but we still deserve to breathe. How about closing Clairton Coke Works in Pittsburgh next? Put that as number one on your lawyer to do list and assign the best people. That plant has had leaking ovens and EPA violations for years! Close it down once and for all. Lower our rate of COPD. Save our lives. Thanks.

[Shane Nodurft]

I am pleased that the Sierra Club worked hard to get the GenOn Coal Plant closed down! Sierra Club is doing a good thing by fighting against big coal and I hope and pray that the Sierra Club can continue with getting more coal plants retired!

[Gary]

Thank God, and the Sierra Club. I have heard of this plant for years, maybe decades.