Earlier this year, the company agreed to retire the Chicago coal plants in response to a 10 year grassroots campaign by a coalition of community, health, and environmental organizations. According to agreements signed by Midwest Generation, the Clean Power Coalition, and the City of Chicago, the Fisk coal plant must shut down in 2012 and the Crawford coal plant by 2014.

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The Chicago Clean Power Coalition released the following statement in response to the news.

For Immediate Release

May 2, 2012

Chicago’s Fisk and Crawford Coal Plants to Close in September

Midwest Generation is accelerating the closure of two of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal plants, saying both the Fisk plant in Pilsen and the Crawford plant in Little Village will close in September 2012.

On today’s first quarter investor call, Ted Craver, CEO of parent-company Edison International, announced that the Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago will shut ahead of schedule.

Earlier this year, Edison International agreed to retire the Chicago coal plants in response to a 10 year grassroots campaign by a coalition of community, health, and environmental organizations. According to agreements signed by Midwest Generation, the Clean Power Coalition, and the City of Chicago, the Fisk coal plant must shut down in 2012 and the Crawford coal plant by 2014.

Today’s announcement confirms that economic pressures and grassroots opposition present a real challenge to the long term viability of Edison’s coal fleet. Energy producers are recognizing the need to move towards cleaner, more cost effective energy sources

In response to today’s decision, members of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition said:

“We welcome the news that both plants will close earlier than expected. Midwest Generation made this decision independently based on an economic analysis. Coal is not just harmful to public health and air quality; it’s no longer a working business model. Clean energy is where the jobs are now.” – Faith Bugel, senior attorney with Environmental Law & Policy Center.

“There’s no future in coal. Edison International executives can protect Illinois families and their own investors by retiring the remaining Midwest Generation coal plants and committing future investments to renewable energy,” – Kelly Mitchell, Greenpeace Coal Campaigner

“It’s amazing to see the economic times finally catch up with what our communities have known all along – coal is a dirty investment. We are excited to hear that our communities will not have to wait until 2014 for a breath of clean air. In our hearts, we know that Midwest Generation will do right by its employees and invest in them like they have invested in clean energy.” Kimberly Wasserman, Executive Director, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization

“In the neighborhoods surrounding the plants tonight, tiny and older lungs especially will breathe a little easier knowing that 100% of the deadly coal pollution generated in Chicago will end in just 4 short months. This news couldn’t be better and will inspire residents as they work together to gather and construct proposals for how future uses of the sites can benefit the community.” – Jerry Mead-Lucero, local resident and organizer for PERRO, the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization.

“Midwest Generation is doing what it needs to do by shutting the plants early. Now we need to move forward toward clean air and a worthy replacement for the plants.” – Nelson Soza, Pilsen Alliance

“Chicago still has a long term air pollution problem and finally closing the last several ancient, inefficient and dirty coal power plants in the Chicago area would improve the health of all area residents by reducing asthma attacks, heart attacks, hospitalizations and deaths.” – Brian Urbaszewski, Director of Environmental Health for Respiratory health Association of Metropolitan Chicago.

“Today we won two more years of cleaner, safer air for the children of Little Village, culminating the many years of hard work by local families and concerned residents. We are now calling on Midwest Generation to protect their employees and asking for investments in energy efficiency that will create new jobs to assist the workers and community with a smooth transition to a clean energy future. We we look forward to continuing our work with the Chicago Clean Power Coalition and Mayor Emanuel to ensure new productive uses of these sites and a cleaner future our city.” -Jack Darin, Sierra Club Illinois Chapter Director

Howard A. Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center spoke with Teresa Auch Schultz of The Post-Tribune.

“Dominion has the responsibility to clean the site up,” Learner said. “Not just simply put a lock on the fence and leave it for our communities to deal with in the future.”

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ELPC is pleased that EPA announced this new standard that will protect public health, the environment and the economy together. Join us in thanking the EPA by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. ELPC’s online system will help you do it.

This landmark move by EPA will reinforce the important Clean Air Act public health standards enacted more than 20 years ago. It will protect public health and the Great Lakes ecosystem. It will create good jobs for American workers. And it will avoid billions of dollars in health costs.

Notwithstanding these public health, environmental and economic benefits, the new EPA standard is already under attack from certain coal plant owners and members of Congress. They claim – erroneously – that this will cause our lights to go out. This is simply not true. Industry has known for decades that these standards were coming. Many utilities took early steps to convert to natural gas, which burns cleaner and produces less pollution, or alter construction plans for coal plants with oudated technology.

Please express your support for the new EPA standard that will protect children’s health, the Great Lakes and the environment by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that passes through the placenta and poisons fetal brain development. It also has been linked to harming children’s developing brains, including effects on memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills.

Coal-fired power plants emit approximately half of atmospheric mercury, with natural sources such as volcanoes responsible for the remainder. An estimated two-thirds of human-generated mercury comes from stationary combustion, mostly of coal.  There are about 1,100 coal-fired units and about 500 power plants in this country. About half of these units are more than 40 years old, and about three-quarters of them are more than 30 years old. Of these 1,100 units, 44% do not use pollution controls such as scrubbers or catalysts to limit emissions, and they pour unlimited amounts of mercury, lead, arsenic and acid gases into our air.

ELPC Report: Reducing Mercury Pollution in Illinois

In June 2011, ELPC released this report about why federal air toxics safeguards are needed to protect public health. Download a free copy today!

The Chicago Tribune reported on Sunday, September 19th about one of the nation’s dirtiest coal plants that sits just across the state line from Chicago: State Line Power Station. As ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner comments in the piece, “It’s a highly polluting plant that has existed for years in a sort of never-never land.”  The article points out that the power plant is starting to get noticed as a push is on to force the plant to clean up.

Read the full article.

The lawsuit relates to opacity violations.  Opacity is a measurement of the amount of light blocked by particulate matter coming from smokestacks. Particulate matter is fine dust and soot that stays close to the plant and concentrates negative air quality and health effects in nearby communities leading to respiratory illnesses and premature deaths. The USEPA has cited Midwest Generation’s coal plants for numerous air pollution-related violations.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that the Fisk and Crawford plants in Chicago are responsible for 41 premature deaths, 550 emergency room visits and 2800 asthma attacks annually. Midwest Generation owns coal plants in Chicago, Waukegan, Joliet, Romeoville and Pekin, Illinois.

Read ELPC’s Press Release

Read Coverage in the Joliet Herald News

ELPC has worked with citizen groups to oppose the new plants because they would be unnecessary, expensive and would create huge amounts of pollution that contributes to global warming and threatens human health.

 As ELPC Senior Attorney Faith Bugel told the Detroit News, “This report shows that clean energy can power Michigan’s future. Moving away from outdated coal power will build our economy and protect our environment.”

Last year, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm ordered the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to examine whether the state’s energy needs could be met by renewable sources and energy efficiency before granting Clean Air Act permits for any new coal plants. A final decision on whether to grant Clean Air Act permits to Wolverine and Consumers Energy rests with the state Department of Environmental Quality, which promises a ruling by the end of this year.

Read Coverage in the Detroit News