MidMissouri: Columbia power plant to stop burning coal by October
COLUMBIA — City officials said Thursday they will stop burning coal at the municipal power plant by October to comply with new EPA rules.
Two of the power plant’s boilers currently burn coal. Power Production Superintendent Chrstian Johanningmeier said city officials are considering converting the larger and newer of the two boilers to run on biomass, such as wood chips. Although biomass burns cleaner than coal, he said it only provides about half as much heat energy per pound as coal does. He said officials are currently reviewing what it would take to convert the larger coal boiler to run on biomass.
“At that point in time, it becomes an economic and a policy decision, whether or not to do a biomass conversion,” he said.
The decision to end coal use at the plant precedes a new EPA rule on coal ash set to take effect Oct. 14. It requires the closure of any coal ash landfill that either is contaminating groundwater or cannot meet new regulations for structural integrity. Recent EPA tests showed More’s Lake, which sits next to the power plant, is at risk for overflowing during heavy rain.
