Haley Fuller moved out of Thomas Hall due to some health issues that she attributes to the coal-fired power plant on campus.
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Byron Nichols does not consider his job to be detrimental to his health.
Nichols has worked at Virginia Tech’s coal-powered power plant for 27 years and is currently the associate director for utility systems there.
“I haven’t had a single issue,” he said. “I feel perfectly safe working here.”
But in August, a perfectly healthy freshman, Haley Fuller moved into Thomas Hall — a dorm directly across from the same plant. The freshman biological systems engineering major has a different story from Nichols
“I had never really been sick in my life,” Fuller said. “I go to Thomas Hall and I first break out with a virus that gave me hives all over my body. But most notably was the sinus infection that I had that continued for about a month.”
After several visits to both Schiffert Health Center and the hospital, Fuller was diagnosed with pneumonia — something her dad figured might have had something to do with her proximity to the power plant.
Some people are concerned Fuller’s story is not the only one like this and claim living in such close proximity to a coal fired power plant is causing health issues not seen in residents in other dorms,
These claims are not entirely without support. According to the American Lung Association, coal-fired power plants produce over 380,000 tons of air pollutants each year, making up over 75 percent of U.S. acid gas emissions, including hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride.
These gases do have negative health effects on the human body when exposed for long periods of time at reasonable doses.
The average Tech student, however, can breathe easy.
The Efficiency Trade-Off
The Tech power plant is more efficient than most other plants in the area. Average plant efficiency is calculated by dividing work produced by heat supplied, which for most plants only produces about 35 percent efficiency.
Because Tech is a combined heat and power plant, waste heat is used to heat campus, meaning Tech’s power plant is about 82 percent efficient.
This high level of efficiency is one of the primary reasons Tech has not switched from coal to natural gas.
“If we burn gas, we could produce steam, but not electricity,” Nichols said. “What that means is that we would be shifting electrical production off of a plant that’s 82 percent efficient, and take it to a plant that’s 35. Emissions are based on input, so those guys have to put a lot more fuel into the boilers to get the same output we do.”
The two deairators, working in parallel, remove the dissolved gasses from the water — mostly oxygen — which is necessary before it goes back into the boiler. At 480 degrees, which is the temperature of the steam when it’s recycled, oxygen is saturated at about 600 psi, which is highly unstable. The plant can mechanically remove steam up to 3.5 parts per billion, and the rest is moved chemically.
It’s because of this process that steam comes
out of the roof of the building.
Moreover, due to the height of the smoke stack, it is near impossible for any of the pollutants to reach the lungs of the average student.
Emissions and plant efficiency, however, are not all that those who oppose the power plant dislike.
Coal Dust Causes Problems
For many, the main concern is the large amount of coal dust blown off the pile of coal outside the plant and into the window’s of residents of Thomas Hall.
“Coal comes in on trucks,” Lowe said. “It’s dumped in the coal yard, and there will be some dust associated with that because of the dumping. Then, when the facility uses it, there’s a front-end loader that will pick up coal and put it in the hopper. It’s then moved inside the building and stored to where it will feed the boiler. There is some spillage; It’s an industrial facility — industrial facilities create dust. Burger King across the street is creating dust too.”
Mike Cannon, an industrial hygienist at the power plant, said dust is also created when trucks are moving in and out of the yard. Nichols said there are housekeeping efforts done to minimize the amount the coal in the air to as little as possible.
A version of this article appeared in the May 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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This is a great article to put everything into perspective. I'm all for green development as well, but have agreed that it's not financially feasible nor practical for Virginia Tech to 'upgrade' the plant (which would be a downgrade in efficiency as the article points out). Anyone with any background experience would know that Miss Fuller's illnesses could not be caused by the coal dust, it's caused by pathogens and viruses. Now, if she were to come back with some form of lung cancer a few years down the road we might have a different story. But, in the end it comes down to this. Thomas Hall is the cheapest housing on campus, as in the real world, you get what you pay for. In the real world, cheap housing isn't in the most ideal locations, and will be next to things you may or may not agree with and you either have to deal with it or find somewhere else to live.
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Unfortunately, the university doesn't give you the option to live elsewhere. I was "assigned" to Thomas hall. Also, do you really want some of your colleagues to be living in a situation where there is even a slight chance they could develop lung cancer? Seems pretty drastic.
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What exactly do you mean by background experience?
Cigarette smoking increases your chances of getting pneumonia, why wouldn't being subjected to breathing in coal dust do anything similar to that?
You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss something that you obviously don't know that much about....
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You don't "choose" to be in Thomas Hall, you're assigned there. Also I'm pretty sure all housing on campus is the same price. Trust me, if it was up to the students Thomas Hall would be empty.
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Correction it is cheaper, but students (Freshmen specifically) still don't "choose" which dorm to be in. I would've happily paid more to have been in another dorm. By the second semester 1/2 of my floor was empty because it was so awful.
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What background experience do you have that allows you to so easily diagnose the cause of her pneumonia, 2014_Hokie? I'm not a doctor, but I do have asthma, which requires me to see a doctor regularly. If you were not aware, dust is a significant respiratory irritant. Irritated lungs are more prone to infection, and pneumonia is an opportunistic illness often associated with respiratory infections because they compromise immune function. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to prove causality with illnesses like this, so we can't claim the coal dust is the direct cause. However, there is likely a strong correlation that deserves more than lip service from university staff who just like to say everything's fine.
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From http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001200/
Pneumonia is a breathing (respiratory) condition in which there is an infection of the lung.
Ways you can get pneumonia include:
Bacteria and viruses living in your nose, sinuses, or mouth may spread to your lungs.
You may breathe some of these germs directly into your lungs.
You breathe in (inhale) food, liquids, vomit, or fluids from the mouth into your lungs (aspiration pneumonia)
End quote.
Although you are not a doctor, there is this thing, it has been around for quite a few years called Google. It is an internet search engine that scours the internet for information on all sorts of topics. Ask it a question, or just type in a word and it will tell you anything you want to know.
So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
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When this article is written every year or two, it normally has a student with a condition that's a long shot to be caused by the coil. That's nowhere near the case with this article. Pneumonia?
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Not to say that it isn't attributed to the plant, but hives/sinus infection could have been caused by allergies. A lot of people move down to this area and have never had allergies in their lives, then have horrible health experiences because the pollen is so bad around here. A lot of different factors can contribute to these symptoms/infections, including nutrition/vitamin deficiency (vitamin C, vitamin D, etc), which could result in a weakened immune system, and sanitation (does she use hand sanitizer/wash her hands frequently to avoid catching something?). Lots of people on the other side of campus get really sick just because this region is very allergenic and a dormitory isn't a particularly clean place.
I'm not trying to debunk the effects of the power plant, just saying that there are a lot of factors involved, the power plant might just happen to be the most bombastic/inflammatory.
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Not to say that it isn't attributed to the plant, but hives/sinus infection could have been caused by allergies. A lot of people move down to this area and have never had allergies in their lives, then have horrible health experiences because the pollen is so bad around here. A lot of different factors can contribute to these symptoms/infections, including nutrition/vitamin deficiency (vitamin C, vitamin D, etc), which could result in a weakened immune system, and sanitation (does she use hand sanitizer/wash her hands frequently to avoid catching something?). Lots of people on the other side of campus get really sick just because this region is very allergenic and a dormitory isn't a particularly clean place.
I'm not trying to debunk the effects of the power plant, just saying that there are a lot of factors involved, the power plant might just happen to be the most bombastic/inflammatory.
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First world problems. Would these girls rather pay more tuition so that we can have supposed "green" energy? Oh wait, their parents must be paying for it, otherwise they wouldn't feel so entitled to perfect living conditions. One even went so far as to complain about the truck drivers who obviously do not know that "college kids live here" or else they would be quieter. Giggling and loud shrieking at all hours of the night must be okay. We are in college; in reality, we do not need gourmet dining halls with granite counter tops, air conditioning, fancy honors dorms with theaters, etc. because we have no real jobs yet!
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Not one of the students living in Thomas Hall is begging for "perfect" living conditions. And while some of the students here may be having their parents help with tuition payments, what exactly does that have to do with wanting better living conditions? Your argument makes no sense. It seems that instead of addressing the issues of the coal plant, you just wanted to make a scene over the fact that Virginia Tech charges exorbitant prices for the amenities that we receive. If you have a problem with the price or quality of the environment that our food is provided in, I suggest living off campus and not eating at the dining halls, or transferring to a cheaper college where you know your money won't be spent on providing a aesthetically pleasing area to eat. Plus, some of us do have "real" jobs, pay for college, and are a full-time student. I feel like you shouldn't judge those students in Thomas Hall until you meet them.
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I lived on upper quad for 4 years and had no problem with the power plant. My room would get a little dusty every now and then but to go to an extreme of causing pneumonia is a little much. Allergies in the New River Valley are more common due to the pollen and climate. For the topic concerning housing assignments, you can be moved from dorm to dorm if there are serious problems just by contacting the Housing Office.
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As someone that has been facing severe allergies and sinus for the last 4 years, I can totally relate to this article.
I never had any type of allergy in my life, until I moved to Blacksburg.
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My back-of-envelope calculations suggests that the number of deaths caused by burning coal to provide electricity for campus is two (this doesn't really include the on-campus coal plant which produces only a tiny portion of tech's electricity). That's two people per year (plus the damage from the on-campus coal steam plant featured in this story), conservatively, who are passing away, on average, from coal fired power plants used to supply campus. These deaths are from respiratory illness and are likely older people and those whose health is already degraded (not current college students). Nationwide, there are about 20,000 annual respiratory disease deaths attributed to coal fired plants. If nuclear meltdowns killed 20,000 per year, we'd stop using nuclear power in about one week from the public outcry.
There are an additional 49 annual asthma attacks from coal fired power plants that supply Tech. That's our potion of the half-million attacks annually attributed to burning coal for electricity.
Tech's electricity comes about 90% from burning coal. National average is about half. California made the decision decades ago to move to other sources and now uses less than 1% coal electricity. This doesn't have to be this way.
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California "generates" about 1% of electricity from coal. Unfortunately though, "generation" and "consumption" are not interchangeable terms. California also imports more electricity than any other state. While a portion of this is from the northwest hydroelectric facilities, most of southern California is powered by the southwest coal facilities. So, I really don't understand placing limits on your own state's generation sources while just importing more electricity to account for the difference.
Source: http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles-analysis.cfm?sid=CA
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Inhalation of coal dust can cause various symptoms. The severity of symptoms varies depending on the amount of coal dust involved. What you must take into acccount is we are all bio individuals. Breathing an irritant can lead to inflammatory response, then to Bronchitis and then with the right environment to Pnuemonia. Breathing toxins is always a bad idea, and with our toxin escalation at a dramatic increase in the past several years, a reduction in exposure potential is always a common sense approach. I guess if I were given a choice to live next a something toxic, I would choose not to.
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Not to worry, folks. The VTCC will be occupying all of Thomas next year. They aren't allowed to complain, at least not publicly, so these articles will likely be a thing of the past.
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I wish this article would have been written when my daughters were ASSIGNED to Thomas Hall - the worse housing on campus! I tried to change the assignment but was not able to get it approved. If Central AC was installed, then at least the students would not have to worry about opening windows - their only source of heat relief. Then, add some insulating sound proof windows to elilminate the constant humming. Give the students a break. Or better yet, tear it down and rebuild.
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