Howdy Jed,
One of the 20 worse polluting USA coal fired electric power plants, The FPP
plant ,Fayette county Texas has a problem. Seems their effort in finally
getting the scrubber installed ( a little oversight when constructing it
some 40 years ago...) hmmm. the concrete foundation for the new dual new
scrubber failed inspection.
To give you some idea of the enormity of the problem, the concrete slab will
have to be broken up and removed . It is 70 feet in diameter and 8 feet
thcik with reinforcing steel.... oh ! I forgot to mention the deep pier
pilings under the slab are too difficult to remove so they will " re-inforce
the piers. The trick will be to drill holes in the slab and fill with a type
of expanding grout to fracture the concrete into pieces for removal.
Comment with the report.. it is obvious there will be a delay in completing
our environmental improvements. This plant is owned by the state of Texas
and the city of Austin... pristine in their thinking and rightousness in
going after any polluter but their own.
Not to be outdone.. as no Texas power producer can .. the Houston ship
channel industries old Reliant power plant, one of 4 fallen into bankruptcy
because of rising fuel costs and too broke to install pollution equipment,
was resurrected from the dead and sold for 450m and change.
The new owners will be given time to work out their pollution problems.
No place but Texas, where no man's life nor property is safe when the
legislature is in session. Not to worry says the regulators.. we in Texas
are way ahead of the curve because the US is in serious trouble and face
catastrophic electric power shortages across the nation this year caused by
an aging infrastructure and by environmentalists causing delays in new
plant construction.
Richard
