Report: Michigan’s old coal plants cause 180 deaths a year

Michigan’s old coal plants cost an average family of four about $500 dollars per year in damages and expenses from hospital admissions and health problems, according to a report released this week by the Michigan Environmental Council

The report, prepared for MEC by Massachusetts-based Environmental Health and Engineering, Inc. used U.S. Environmental Protection Agency methodology to calculate the public health costs of particulate emissions from the nine Michigan coal plants that went into operation between 1949 and 1968.

Combustion of fossil fuels is the primary source of particulate matter in the atmosphere, the report says, and air pollution from coal plants is the largest source of particulate matter in the eastern U.S. This type of pollution can penetrate the lungs, enter the bloodstream and cause or exacerbate a broad range of health problems.

The study found that the old coal plants are responsible for 180 premature deaths in Michigan each year as well as approximately 230 hospital admissions or Emergency Room visits and 68,000 asthma attacks.

The estimated in-state public health damages are greatest for Consumers Energy’s JR Whiting plant near Bay City, the JH Campbell plant near Grand Haven, and DTE Energy’s River Rouge plant.

The report also found that health impacts from the particulate emissions at Michigan power plants extend as far east as the Atlantic Ocean and as far west as Colorado.

A spokesman for Consumers Energy responded to the report, telling the Bay City Times that Michigan’s air is cleaner than is has been in 50 years and that the company is focused on including alternative and renewable sources in its portfolio.