Mount Storm Power Station
| Mount Storm Generating Station | |
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Aerial view of the Mount Storm Generating Station and its artificial lake
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 Location of Mount Storm Generating Station in West Virginia
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Grant County, near Bismarck, West Virginia |
| Coordinates | 39°12′03″N 79°15′46″W / 39.20083°N 79.26278°WCoordinates: 39°12′03″N 79°15′46″W / 39.20083°N 79.26278°W |
| Status | Active |
| Commission date | Unit 1: September, 1965 Unit 2: June, 1966 Unit 3: December, 1973 |
| Owner(s) | Dominion |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal Synfuel |
| Type | Steam |
| Cooling source | Mount Storm Lake |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 1,600 MWe |
The Mount Storm Generating Station, located on the west bank of Mount Storm Lake 2 miles (3 km) from Bismarck, West Virginia, is a coal-fired power station owned by Dominion Resources. It is the largest power plant that Dominion operates. The facility's three units use around 15,000 tons of coal to generate more than 1,600 megawatts of electricity from the coal synfuel for around 2 million people in Northern Virginia.
Mount Storm Power Station was engineered and built by Stone & Webster, an American engineering service company from Massachusetts. They built Mount Storm's first coal plant unit in September 1965, the second unit soon after in June 1966, and the third unit in December 1973. During the first few decades that the station existed, the hazard of fly ash was a big problem for the employees of Mount Storm Power Station as well as for the people living in the surrounding communities. These people were constantly exposed to the asbestos not even knowing of its existence. It was not till the 1970's where rules were passed to regulate the exposure of these toxicants. Due to the lack of regulation, people who worked in the power station prior to 1980 have been diagnosed with "asbestos-related illnesses, including asbestosis and the much more deadly mesothelioma." Since then Mount Storm Power Station has kept up with all government regulations and now catches most all of the toxicants produced by burning the coal before it can harm the employees or the surrounding community.
Mount Storm has limestone scrubbers in the burners which removes up to 95% of the sulfur dioxide emitted by the station. Dominion states that Mount Storm Power Station exceeds the regulations set by the West Virginia regulators.
Mount Storm Lake is a reservoir created for Mount Storm Power Station along the Stony River. This lake is 1,200 acres and is used as a cooling pond for the power station. The power station sucks up approximately 234,000 gallons of water from the lake per minute to cool down the turbines. This results in the entire lake being sucked up and recycled in just 2.5 days. Due to this cooling process, Mount Storm Lake is warm all year around. "Even when winter temperatures are below freezing, the water temperature in the lake seldom drops below 60 degrees F. This makes the lake an attractive year-round destination for scuba divers, boaters and fishermen." However, some people are resistant to participate in these water activities due to the proximity to the coal-fired station.
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Wikipedia