Air Pollution…

At the beginning of this website, in the “General” section, it was mentioned that information contained herein does not specifically address the impact and/or effect of non-point source pollution associated with on-lot sewage, illicit discharges or stormwater runoff. Nor does it address the impact and/or effect of particulates and contamination associated with air pollution from the multitude of iron and steel mills, coal-fired power plants, or other industries past or present in or in proximity to the Greater Johnstown area. However, this “Extra” section goes into it all just a little bit more.

Part 1 of 2 - Air pollution related to steel mill operations in the City of Johnstown PA.

There are multiple publications that document air particle contaminants and human health effects associated with coke oven and steel mill emissions. Coke oven emissions are complex mixtures of dust, vapors and gases that typically contained several hundreds of thousands of compounds, several of which are known carcinogens and cocarcinogens, such as arsenic, benzene, betanaphthylamine, beryllium, chromate, lead, nickel subsulfide, nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide. It also included other harmful toxins and contaminants such as acrolein, aliphatic aldehydes, ammonia. arsenic, cadmium, carbon monoxide, carbon tetrachloride, cyanide, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, methane, mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH’s), phenol and more than sixty (60) other organic compounds including some volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). From the actual steel making operations, basic emissions contained hydrocarbons and oxides, gases and particulates, and fugitive and stack emissions. Based on use of newer electric arc furnace (EAF) technology which came online in the 1960’s and 1970’s rather than older basic oxygen furnace (BOF) units, the primary constituents in emissions were particulate matter and gases. Gases included carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. Dusts which were able to be removed using EAF technology had in it the usual suspects - iron, zinc, cadmium, lead, chromium, and calcium oxide.

In an August 1978 US EPA document #560/6-78-004 entitled “Investigation of Selected Correlation Between Industrial Activity and Community Disease” the City of Johnstown was actually used as steel manufacturing case study site. Emissions as shown in this report in Chapter VI, Steel Manufacturing Case Study, Section C - Study Description, Part (2)(b) were as follows:

Table IV-14 Steel Industry: Air Emission Inventory (tons per year). Based on a steel facilities inventory of the Bethlehem Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel plants in the Johnstown area prior to 1977.

Table IV-14 Steel Industry: Air Emission Inventory (tons per year). Based on a steel facilities inventory of the Bethlehem Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel plants in the Johnstown area prior to 1977.

The last thing I will mention about air pollution associated with the coke plants and steel mills in the city, is a thing I ran into during the course of my research. It really perplexed and amazed me. I still shake my head about it when I think of it. During my research, I ran across a video clip from a March 9, 1976 edition of the NBC Today morning show. The clip generally pertained to air pollution and enactment of the Clean Water Act by the US Congress through air quality program enforcement by the US EPA. It featured Johnstown PA and the steel mills owned and operated in the city by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. The story featured how implementation of the Clean Water Act will help with cleaning up air pollution, and specific to Johnstown, where such air pollution from the steel mills may be causing cancer.

The clip had a response by a vice-president representing the Bethlehem Steel Corporation who said - unbelievably - something to this effect:

“THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE PLANT CAUSES CANCER…IN FACT PEOPLE GET MORE BAD STUFF FROM EATING TWO STEAKS THAN THEY DO LIVING A YEAR IN JOHNSTOWN.”

I find this to be just amazing. If they even saw it citizens of the Johnstown area at that time probably thought nothing of the comment. After all it is the typical line we hear over and over again from folks who profit from things that are known to be harmful. Think of the tobacco or alcohol industries or even things like use of seat belts or masks to prevent the spread of infectious disease during a worldwide pandemic and public health emergency. Plus they (citizens) probably felt that excessive government regulations and the costs associated thereof were the cause of the closing of the local mills and mines. Of course, the reasons for closing of the mills and mines is much deeper than that.

I wish I was able to find this clip again to post it here. Somehow, I can not find or access it again without password permission. Here is the address in non-linkable format, perhaps you may have better luck than me to find it and access it again:

nbc.JPG

Coal-fired power plants…

Part 2 of 2 - Air pollution related to the various coal-fired power plants in proximity to Johnstown PA.

There are multiple publications that document air particle emissions, contaminants and human health effects associated with coal-fired power plants. Emissions - even with modern day air pollution controls like scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators, generally include particulate matter, carbon dioxide, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Human exposure to these toxins cause a variety of health issues such as asthma and other respiratory ailments, birth defects, certain cancers, developmental disorders, neurological damage and premature mortality. There are also many more that document contaminants and human health effects associated with coal combustion wastes, sometimes otherwise known as coal ash, coal combustion residuals (CCR’s), coal combustion wastes (CCW’s), and fly ash/bottom ash. A primary concern for the disposal of such solid wastes from coal-fired power plants is the potential for waste leachate to cause groundwater contamination. Toxic contaminants that leach, leak or spill out from uncontrolled or failed coal ash disposal sites include, but are not limited to: antimony, arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, molybdenum, thallium, and selenium.

There are more than 6,000 electricity generating facilities across the nation. As of 2005, Pennsylvania has seventy-eight (78) coal-fired generating units at 40 locations with fourteen (14) larger facilities with capacity over 400 MW (like the Seward generating station). There are seven (7) in the Kiski-Conemaugh River watershed basin.

Large electric power generating station west of Johnstown PA (source: ESRI aerial mapping)

The coal power industry enjoys continued strength in Pennsylvania. In 2005, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was the 4th biggest coal producing state. However, in 2006, coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania produced 117 million tons of carbon dioxide (about 43 percent of the state’s total CO2 emissions), 819,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 156,000 tons of nitrogen oxide. In 2009, Pennsylvania ranked 2nd among all states with mercury emissions from power plants with over 4,500 pounds which accounted for 71 percent of the state entire mercury pollution total.

We just don’t realize just how many of these facilities were in proximity to us being residents of Johnstown PA and surrounding areas in Cambria County. There are seven (7) major coal-fired power plants within just a 35 mile radius of the city. In order of capacity, they include: 1. Homer City Generating Station, Indiana County (2,012 megawatt); 2. Conemaugh Generating Station, Indiana County (1,872 megawatt); 3. Keystone Generating Station, Armstrong County (1,872 megawatt); 4. Seward Generating Station, Indiana County (626 megawatt); 5. Colver Power Project, Cambria County (105 megawatt); 6. Cambria Cogeneration Facility, Cambria County (98 megawatt); and 7. Ebensburg Cogeneration Power Plant, Cambria County (97.6 megawatt). The new CPV Fairview Energy Center power plant project along Route 271 in Vinco, Jackson Township is a co-generation power plant. It is not coal-fired, but a natural gas-fired power plant of 1,050 megawatt capacity. However, in the true spirit of further contamination of surface waters in the Hinckston Run watershed, non-process wastewater from this co-generation power plant is discharged into the headwater streams of Hinckston Run, the cold-water trout fishery segment above the Hinckston Run dam-reservoir. The PADEP issued an NPDES industrial discharge permit (PA 0253359) for this discharge into the stream.

Perhaps all of the above information in this section, in combination with all the groundwater related issues talked about in the rest of the website, are one of the primary reasons why the medical industry has securely filled the void left by the steel and coal mining industry in the Greater Johnstown Area. It is the new economy and livelihood of the city and surrounding areas. Hopefully it does not reap the profits, consume the resources of the city and it’s residents, and then leave like a thief in the night like the previous industry did.

AIR POLLUTION RESOURCES: For more about air pollution, see the following educational materials