YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD
COAL PLANT IS KILLING YOU

Built in 1958, the WA Parish Electric Generating Station

is located in Thompson, TX off US Highway 762.

 

Childhood Questions

As a kid, I’d ride by this plant every day in my parent’s vehicle on our way to town.  I’d ask, “Mommy, what’s that plant in the distance?”  She would reply, “It’s a coal plant honey.  It makes electricity for us and everyone else”.  

Something didn’t seem right in my mind, even as a young child.   “Is it safe for all those fumes to be coming out of the stacks?” I’d always ask.  My father would reply with, “It’s coal.  It’s nothing merely but steam bellowing out.  Steam is condensed water and air, that’s all.”  This was the typical conversation regarding this plant.  “Oh.” 

 

After that nothing was really discussed.   Let’s move on 20 years later, shall we?

 

 

 

Adulthood Questions

Now as an adult I ask the same questions.  “What is coming out of those smoke stacks?  Is it safe?  There are crops and schools nearby.  Are we eating and breathing this byproduct?”

We all tend to forget or get too busy… wrapped up in that little thing called “Life”, am I right? We get up, we go to work, we come home and all we want to do is relax. Go to bed, lather, rinse, repeat.

 

"Google" it.

I opened by web browser on the computer and thought to myself, “I don’t even know the name of this plant.  How am I going to find out more?”

Beginning my quest, I typed in the phrase “plant near George Ranch” in the box and searched… Nothing but information regarding the George Ranch, a nearby ranch that donated land to build an immense new intermediate and high school.

So I tried again… “coal plant George Ranch”  http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=coal+plant+george+ranch&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

The number one result reads, “W. A. Parish Electric Generating Station”.

http://www.texas-flyer.com/Fly-In-EngineOut/powerplant.htm

This webpage reads:

 

So now I know the name of it… and we are putting the waste in our driveways and roads, too.  Great!

 

"The Name Game"

Next I google searched, “W.A. Parish” and this came up: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=W.A.+Parish&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g2

 

There is an environment scorecard report of this facility here: http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/facility.tcl?tri_id=77481WPRSHYUJON#pollution_rank_health_effect

 

This report claims 373,783 reported pounds of Suspected Neurotoxicants being produced from this coal plant during 2002.

 

·  2002 TRI Pollution Releases Sorted by Health Effect* Air Releases (Pounds from TRI sources) Water Releases (Pounds from TRI sources) Recognized Carcinogens 1,923 Suspected Carcinogens 3,377 5 Suspected Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicants 374,250 5 Recognized Developmental Toxicants 1,463 Suspected Developmental Toxicants 371,760 5 Suspected Endocrine Toxicants 13 Suspected Immunotoxicants 207,513 Suspected Kidney Toxicants 5,814 Suspected Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicants 571,590 5 Suspected Musculoskeletal Toxicants 581,000 Suspected Neurotoxicants 373,783 315 Recognized Reproductive Toxicants 350 Suspected Reproductive Toxicants 373,700 310 Suspected Respiratory Toxicants 593,007 310 Suspected Skin or Sense Organ Toxicants 591,151 1,600 *Note: Some chemicals are associated with more than one health effect, so their release may be counted multiple times in this table. Therefore, it is not appropriate to sum releases sorted by health effect. Total reported releases to air and water are provided in the data summary below.

 

·  Facility Information 2002 Facility Name: W.A. PARISH ELECTRIC GENERATING STATION Mailing Address: 2500 Y.U. JONES RD., THOMPSONS, TX 77481 Public Contact: LETICIA LOWE Phone: (713) 207-7702 SIC Code: 49 Electric, Gas, And Sanitary Services 2002 Parent Company: TEXAS GENCO L.P. Latitude: 29.50472 Longitude: -95.59917 Facilities are encouraged to respond to the information presented in Scorecard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A clearly biased brochure is available online that gives positive data and how clean the air supposedly is...more facts about this plant, go here: http://texasiof.ces.utexas.edu/texasshowcase/pdfs/presentations/b1/dfurstenwerth.pdf

 

 

 

Carbon Dioxide

Carbon Dioxide, or CO2 for short, is one of several greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change, is released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), wood, and solid waste are burned.  Power plants are responsible for 40% of all man-made CO2 emmissions in the nation.

 

W.A. Parish Electrical Generating Station

Fort Bend County TX

Operated by NRG Energy
3969 MW (#4 Top Capacity Plant)
#5 Top CO2 emitter in 2004 (20,577,112 Tons)

94.5787% Coal
5.4213% Gas 

 

I love Google Earth.  It is an amazing tool.  You should get it if you don’t have it yet.

I searched “WA Parish, TX” and all these results came up:

 

So now I know what the plant is producing, it’s name, and what wastes are being emitted from the fumes. 

There is no such thing as clean coal technology.  We also should remind Sarah Palin of that, too.

 

 

FACT: You are breathing this air in your lungs if you live within a 50 mile radius of this plant in Fort Bend County, TX.

A report in 2007 reveals the WA Parish Plant is number 10 in the top 50 US Power Plant Mercury Emitters: http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pubs/TOP%2050%20US%20POWER%20PLANT%20MERCURY%20POLLUTERS.pdf

And finally, I conclude with a chart of Top 50 Polluting Power Plants in the United States for CO2 in TONS of CO2 (2005).  This came from the document entitled, “Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants”

On page 24 of the document,  in 2005 the plant was ranked the #6 in the top 50 deadliest plants in the entire United States!  http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pubs/Dirty%20Kilowatts%20report.pdf

The list goes on and on. Google results vary by 2 million search results just on "WA Parish" power plant. Do the math. There's is hundreds of calculated data and air quality test results that span the last 10 years on this plant's air quality.

We are breathing this air in.  Our children will be going to new schools just built within view!  The cattle nearby is grazing in fields at the George Ranch. Farmland for hundreds of acres producing rice, corn and wheat are surrounding this supposedly harmless plant.

Look at the beautiful lake that the plant dumps and uses for filtration…

The dots in red are the George Ranch. 

About 2 miles north, of the brown squares in the top left corner are where a new high school is being built, appropriately named “George Ranch High School” is currently being constructed.

 

 

 

Suggestions

·         Numbness

·         Tingling

·         Arms or legs feeling odd or numb

·         Confustion

·         Dizziness

·         Insomnia

·         Restlessness

·         Agitated easily

·         Memory trouble, especially short term

·         Daily Headaches

·         Breathing problems

·         Constant coughing when lying down

All of the problems can be magnified with stress and improper diet. 

 

  

About the Author

Michael Sorensen is a Multiple Sclerosis patient, diagnosed in 2005 at 25 years old.  Michael developed numbness and tingling in this right arm during this time.

As a child he would get constant headaches and would take Exedrin daily.  This is not recommended on the stomach of a child.  Eventually around 12-15 he stopped taking the Exedrin daily and his body no longer seemed to require it daily.  Headaches did go away when he moved in to the city, near the Katy, TX area.

During the approximate age of 12 he fell from a tree and received trauma to the spine and neck.  This could be related as well, or at least brought on MS sooner than should have, almost 10 years later after working in a stressful job.  Of course, at this job he rarely ate a proper balanced meal, skipping several meals, staying up all night saving computer databases…the list goes on as to why things impacted so quickly and severely to him.

Doctors are unsure of what causes MS, but a lot of environmental factors come into play when you discuss these issues.

From 2005-2007 the MS has been controlled with daily injections of Copaxone and working from home with less stress.

In 2008 Michael moved back to his hometown, nearby this WA Parish plant.  Headaches have returned now, and he has received a Solumedrol IV infusion twice due to relapses and allergic reactions to the Copaxone. 

In 2009 Michael had to switch injections to an every other day shot named BetaSeron.  The heat this year and something else has caused the MS to be aggravated and cause nerve pain and a “stabbing knife” sensation in the top right corner of his back, on his spinal cord, controlling the right arm and right torso, armpit, leg, etc. right side of the body has become numb.  Lesion activity on the brain has become increased since 2005, based on a recent MRI done in 2008 at River Oaks Imaging in Houston.

 

In conclusion, get your water and air checked out if you live near a local seemingly harmless coal plant that merely produces steam in the air.

-Michael Sorensen

CEO, Broke Off, Inc.
KaptainMyke.com

All works cited ala' web links at sources given.