The federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to collect and report information on the local presence and release of chemicals from U.S. industrial processes.

The act requires industrial facilities, including certain electric generation plants such as LCRA's Fayette Power Project (FPP), to report the amount of toxic chemicals annually released into the environment. FPP, a coal-fired power plant near La Grange, is co-owned by LCRA and the City of Austin.

Answers to commonly asked questions about the Toxics Release Inventory are below. Also see: LCRA's 2004 report to the EPA and EPA's TRI database.

LCRA also regularly tests the lake water used in power generation for pollutants, proper oxygen levels and safe temperatures. To ensure long-term water quality, all LCRA power plants also use landscaping and operational practices that help prevent nonpoint-source pollution.

How many chemicals did FPP report for 2006? The Fayette Power Project reported 16 chemicals from a federal list of more than 650 chemicals that must be reported if they exceed federal thresholds.   

How does the most recent report compare with the prior year? 
Because LCRA recycled more than 100 percent of its coal combustion products (CCPs) by reclaiming those CCPs from its landfill, the 2006 report saw a significant reduction in the amount of the reportable constituents from 2005. 

Is there a health concern regarding mercury releases from the plant?
There does not appear to be. Mercury is a persistent bioaccumulative toxin (PBT), and fish tissue studies are the standard method of testing for mercury concentrations in bodies of water. LCRA performed studies at Lake Fayette in 1993, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007 to monitor the accumulation of mercury in the tissue of the lake’s fish. The studies showed that mercury concentrations in the fish were below health-concern levels established by the Texas Department of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Are all of the reported chemicals going into the air and water around the plant?
No. About 75 percent of the acid gases are captured by FPP's pollution control equipment, and about 99 percent of the metal compounds stay in coal combustion products that are recycled or properly disposed in an on-site landfill. Combustion products include:

• Fly ash, the powdery particles captured by pollution control equipment. Fly ash is primarily used as a replacement for cement. FPP recycled 123 percent of the fly ash produced in 2005*.
• Bottom ash, the granular to rock-sized material collected at the bottom of the boilers. It is mixed with fly ash to make road base materials and in the manufacturing of bricks. FPP recycled 164 percent* of the bottom ash produced in 2005.
• Synthetic gypsum, produced from scrubbing (removing) sulfur dioxide (SO₂) from plant emissions by spraying the flue gas with a limestone based slurry. This material is used primarily in concrete and wallboard (sheet rock) manufacturing, and for agricultural products. FPP recycled 113 percent of the FD sludge produced in 2004*.
• As a result of the reuse of the fly ash and synthetic gypsum, the cement industry has avoided the production of 163,870 tons of greenhouse gases, by not processing cement.

* Note: Percentages are more than 100 percent because the amount of combustion products recycled exceeded the amount produced at the plant in 2005, due to increasing markets for previously produced products stored on site. 

Does the use of recycled ash harm the environment?
No. The EPA has found that coal combustion products are not hazardous when used properly. In fact, the federal government promotes the use of these products in federally funded projects. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TC) also has determined that coal ash materials should be treated as useful products, not as waste. 

What is the risk to our health from chemicals that do reach the environment?
Based on what we know from various scientific studies, there is no public health risk associated with the releases of the chemicals reported by FPP for 2005. Studies by researchers at The University of Texas in the 1980s and subsequent limited toxicological studies by outside health experts in 1999 and 2000 concluded that these emissions from FPP's operations did not pose a public health threat. A local study performed this year sought to compare the number of cancer-related deaths in Fayette County to the surrounding area and the state. The results,published in the Fayette County Record, showed no real difference between Fayette County and other counties. 

What is LCRA doing to reduce pollution at FPP?
FPP has taken an aggressive approach to reducing plant emissions. In the past five years, it has reduced its nitrogen oxide (Nix) releases from all three units by approximately 70 percent by installing low Nix burner technology. This technology allows more combustion control by adjusting several factors that determine how the units' boilers burn fuel, such as temperature and fuel and air ratios. 

In October 2002, LCRA received a first-of-its-kind "flex permit" from the TC, two years before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began requiring such measures as part of stricter air quality standards. The Flex, or Plant-wide Applicability Limit (PAL), permit commits the plant owners to install controls to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxide (Nix) emissions by 2012, while enabling it to proceed with needed efficiency and reliability improvements. This Nix reduction supports LCRA's commitment to the Austin Ozone Early Action Compact (EAC) Task Force aimed at bringing areas in Central Texas into compliance with the eight-hour ozone standard. 

The flexible permit immediately reduced FPP's allowable emissions of SO₂ by about 77,000 tons and allowable Nix emissions by more than 39,000 tons per year. By 2012, FPP will reduce SO₂ emissions by more than 90 percent compared with the previously permitted level. By installing flue-gas desulfurization equipment, also known as “scrubbers,” on FPP units 1 and 2, LCRA will maintain the plant’s reputation as one of the cleanest coal-fired facilities in the state. The new scrubbers will remove at least 90 percent of SO₂ and up to 30 percent of mercury from plant emissions. The new scrubbers are expected to be operation by the spring of 2009.

In addition to the flex permit, the plant also has taken significant steps to control and reduce emissions. Those accomplishments include:

FPP significantly lowered the ash content (opacity) of emissions during unit start-ups by testing and improving operating procedures.

• FPP has been and continues to be a host site for companies to test the “next generation” of emission control technologies targeting the reduction of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) and Mercury emissions.
• FPP was the first coal-fired plant in the nation to join a voluntary hazardous waste reduction program. Today, FPP is producing significantly less hazardous waste and is recycling more of the plant's solid waste products.
• FPP continues to step up its environmental commitment through participating in the TCEQ's Clean Texas program at the GOLD level. More information on the Clean Texas program is available on TCEQ's Web site.

Where can I get more information?
For more information on FPP's Toxics Release Inventory and pollution prevention programs, contact LCRA Environmental Supervisor Monte Gottier at energy@lcra.org or call (979) 249-8300, Ext. 8340.