MSU students plan protest over coal plant on campus

EAST LANSING — Students at Michigan State University want the state university to live up to its school color and Go Green. To do that, students argue, the T.B. Simon coal powered electric production facility on campus needs to go.

The plant burns 250,000 tons of coal a year, making it the largest on-campus coal-burning plant in the country, says Sierra Group spokesperson Brendan Ayer.

“We as a group believe it [coal] is dirty and harmful from cradle to grave,” says Ayer. He notes that mining of coal can include removal of mountain tops and noting the amount of pollutants the plant puts in the air, as well as the remnants of burnt coal which is often laced with heavy metals and other toxins. “There are much better alternatives out there.”

According to the plant’s website, it was originally built in 1955, and was upgraded in 1966, 1974, and 1993. In 2006 MSU added another coal electric turbine, as well as a natural gas system.

The planned protest is not a standalone event. College groups across the country are holding similar protests to draw attention to the use of coal-powered power plants on various college campuses across the country. One such event was held Tuesday at Iowa State University.

In May, the University of Illinois announced it would stop the use of coal-powered plants by 2017.

Critics argue the plant spews tons of dangerous chemicals into the air including mercury, lead, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. They also argue particulates in the smoke increase asthma issues and are linked to lung diseases.

TheBigGreen.net, an online student publication at MSU, reported on the coal plant last year. In that report it noted that “according to [MSU] reports, in the first quarter of 2008 the power plant reported 7.58 percent excess sulfur dioxide emissions and 4.75 percent excess nitrogen oxide emissions. These are classified as “high priority violations” by the Environmental Protection Agency, and join 2007 violations of a lesser caliber that were resolved without monetary penalties.”

The violations ended up costing MSU $27,000 in fines earlier this year. And while students and faculty testified that MSU should be forced to adopt a renewable energy plan as part of the consent agreement between the state and the university, officials at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Environment said it was too late to put that plan into the consent agreement.

In addition, the left over remains of the burnt coal, called coal ash, is a toxic sludge of condensed toxins and heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury.

Coal ash has become a major environmental concern, with experts discovering the toxins leaching from containment pits into water supplies or containment locations bursting, as happened last month in North Carolina.

Coal ash has been a major issue in Iowa, and Messenger’s sibling site the Iowa Independent has done a great deal of indepth investigative work on the subject.

Michigan State University spokespeople did not return phone calls and emails inquiring about how or where coal ash is disposed.

Ayer said he was concerned about coal ash and its disposal.

“No one in our group has been able to figure out where it goes,” he said.

The Lansing Board of Water and Light, which provides electricity and steam service to Lansing and many of the surrounding communities — including East Lansing — burns about 5,000 tons of coal a day, says BWL spokesman Mark Nixon.

The coal ash from the BWL plants are either put in a state-approved dump or sold as a component for cement, Nixon said in an email to Michigan Messenger.

MSU also sells its coal ash to cement manufacturers, according to a report by The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University.

The use of coal ash in cement and construction has come under some scrutiny, with experts divided on whether or not the ash is an effective component for cement and few studies completed to date about leaching of various chemicals from the ash contained in concrete. Some argue the cured — or hardened — cement traps the toxins in the mixture. Others say that because cement slowly breaks down over time, that would mean the toxic chemicals and heavy metals contained in the coal ash cement would eventually be released into the environment.

Activists realize that switching from coal burning to fully renewable resources over night is not possibly, but they note that the facility has already received upgrades to allow it to use natural gas, which burns far cleaner than does coal.

The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at MSU report explores the use of electricity at Spartan Stadium, a renewable energy expert says the university could reduce the necessity of coal power for the stadium with just a single one megawatt wind turbine. And that is figuring the turbine would be operating at 15 percent. Currently, MSU burns 480,000 pounds of coal to keep the stadium lit up and the electricity on.

The problem, the expert notes, is both cost and visual impact. The turbine would be more than 300 feet tall, and would cost an estimated $3 to $4 million.

“I think that the fact one turbine can power the stadium, which is a focal point on campus, is incredible,” says Ayer.