UNITED STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1976
EPA, UTILITIES TO TEST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY FOR CONTROLLING
AIR POLLUTION FROM COAL COMBUSTION
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator
Russell E. Train today announced that EPA and two electric
utility companies have signed a memorandum of understanding
to jointly undertake a three-year project demonstrating the
effectiveness of physical coal cleaning as a cost-effective
method for meeting Federal and State air pollution laws.
The project, costing over $4 million,, will be conducted
near Indiana, Pennsylvania at the Homer-City Generating
Complex, which is owned and is currently being built by the
Pennsylvania Electric Company and the New York State Electric
and Gas Corporation.
Physical coal cleaning is considered a possible alterna-
tive to flue gas desulfurization systems, or "scrubbers,"
which are currently the primary method of controlling sulfur
oxides (SOx) from coal-fired power plants. Unlike scrubbers,
which remove SOx from gas streams after coal combustion,
physical coal cleaning is a pre-combustion process in which
the coal is crushed and then put in a liquid medium where the
specific gravity is such that the pollutants sink to the bottom
and the clean coal remains on top.
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The physical, coal cleaning process is most effective with
coal containing large percentages of pyritic (inorganic)
sulfur and relatively low percentages of organic sulfur. It
is anticipated that the process will have wide application in
cleaning eastern U.S. coals, particularly those mined in
central Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. About
100 million tons of coal mined each year in these areas will
probably be suitable for physical cleaning.
"This project," Train said, "will enable EPA and the
electric utility industry to demonstrate the effectiveness of
physical coal cleaning in countering the adverse environmental
effects of America's ever-expanding use of coal. We presently
feel that it offers cost advantages over the scrubber method,
and also eliminates the sludge disposal problem associated
with the latter. It should be stressed, however, that while
physical coal cleaning will probably be practical for wide-
spread commercial use within the next several years, flue gas
desulfurization is expected to dominate the new power plant
market through the mid-1980's."
While the total cost of the Homer City Coal Cleaning
Plant is estimated at $53 million, the coal cleaning demon-
stration itself will run about $4.1 million. It is estimated
that EPA will provide $2.5 million of the test program costs,
and the utility industry $1.6 million.
The memorandum of understanding was signed today by
Stephen J. Gage, EPA's Deputy Assistant.Administrator for
Energy, Minerals and Industry; Wells P. Allen, Jr., NYSEG
Executive Vice-President; and J. Franklin Smith, PENELEC
President. The memorandum sets forth the basic principles
and guidelines under which EPA and the utilities intend to
work in achieving the project objectives. It also describes
the contemplated activities, organization, resources and esti-
mated costs involved in implementing the demonstration project
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