A Nevada Tribes Battle To Replace A Deadly Coal Plant With

Solar : A Success Story

1. Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern
regions of the United States. Reid Gardner Generating Station is a 557
megawatt coal fired plant on 480 acres (190 ha) located near Moapa,
Nevada is co-owned by Nevada Power (69%) and California Department
of Water Resources (31%). The plant consists of 4 units. The first 3 are
100 MW units and were placed into service in 1965, 1968, 1976. The
other unit placed into service in 1983 produces 257 MW. The station is
located just 4 miles west of Glendale and 60 miles northeast of Las
Vegas. NV Energy operates the Reid Gardner Generating Facility. Due
to its location adjacent to the Moapa Band of Paiutes reservation and one
of their communities, the plant has long been a concern over the health
effects on the nearby residents. As a result of several agreements to
improve the air quality around the plant, the upgraded plant is ranked as
one of the 10th cleanest coal plants in the US. The plant is surrounded by
BLM land to the north and south, Paiute agricultural land and residences
on the west, and an inactive dairy farm on the east.

2. Built in 1965, Reid Gardner is an old, dirty coal-fired power plant located
45 miles from Las Vegas and just a few hundred yards from the Moapa
River Reservation. The Moapa Band of Paiutes suffers the immense and
immediate impacts of air pollution in the form of airborne dust from the
plant. Emissions are also spread more broadly into the southern Nevada
air basin, adding to the pollution in the Las Vegas Valley and
contributing to regional haze in an even larger area of the West. Its
corporate owner, NV Energy, wants to expand the landfill where it stores
the toxic coal ash - the residue left after burning coal for electric
power. The Reid Gardner Station (RGS) has a number of raw water
storage ponds, process water evaporation ponds, and fly ash settling
ponds. Reid Gardner Station is a major emitter of carbon dioxide, the
main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. NV Energy has
implemented source control methods including salt and pond solids
removal and pond lining on most of the remaining RGS ponds. More
than 150 people work at the Reid Gardner Generating Station. The plant
produces electricity that serves nearly 335,000 households in Nevada.
The coal used at the plant comes from Colorado, Utah and Wyoming
mines. The continual use of scrubbing systems on each unit generator
aids in reducing the levels of sulfur emission.

3. Despite the recent retrofitting of the units, reports have shown that there
are risks to the health of residents because of the release of chemicals
found in the toxic ash at the plant. Fine particle pollutions such as
hexavalent chromium and asbestos are linked to serious health conditions
from power plants that use coal. Other fine particle pollutions include a
mixture of heavy metals, nitrogen oxides, soot and sulfur dioxides. Other
toxins proved dangerous to the workers at plants such as Reid Gardner.
Because of the extreme temperatures produced at a power plant, many of
these structures included asbestos in their facilities or machines. Though
asbestos is an effective insulator, it can be deadly; causing diseases like
asbestosis and mesothelioma in workers who breathe it in. People living
in the area are suffering from the health problems like asthma, cancer,
lungs diseases. The activism in this case was taken up by a large number
of organizations the Nevada tribe people, Sierra Club, Moapa Band of
Paiutes who sue the NV Energy to force them to clear around the Reid
Gardner plant. The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians has formed a joint
venture with Terrible Herbst Inc. and Stronghold Engineering Inc. to
build as much as 1.5 GW of renewable-energy projects on its land
in Nevada. The first project will be a 250-megawatt solar farm in which
the tribe will maintain majority ownership.

4. Members of the Moapa Band of Paiutes tribe trekked 16 miles over Earth
Day weekend in a Coal to Clean Energy walk. The Native Americans
marched to increase awareness about the solar energy plant that will
replace the coal-fired power plant. Reid Gardner Generating Station
including four units and produces 557 megawatts of power would be
closed. The tribe also may replace a coal-fired plant with one thats
fueled by natural gas. On April 3 NV Energy, which operates the coal-
fired power plant 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas, announced that it
plans to retire three of its four units in 2013. The final one will close by
2017, meaning that the entire plant will cease operations six years earlier
than intended. NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira based the decision on
whether the company should upgrade its older plants or invest in new
plants that produced fewer emissions. With more than 300 days of
sunshine per year, the Moapa River Indian Reservation is an ideal site for
a solar power plant. The proposed Moapa Solar Energy Project will be
developed by K Road Power on roughly 1,000 acres of tribal land near
the Valley of Fire State Park. The 250 megawatt facility will include
910,000 solar panels and should be completed in 2016. It will be the
largest solar plant on tribal lands in the U.S., and generate enough
electricity to power 120,000 homes.

5. The largest solar project on tribal land in the U.S., this clean energy plant
will create job opportunities for the Moapa Band tribe members. During
construction of the solar power facility, 400 jobs will be created, along
with 20 permanent jobs once the plant is up and running. The Moapa
Solar Energy Project will also help Nevada and neighboring states meet
its renewable energy needs, as the Los Angeles Department of Water and
Power (DWP) will purchase all electricity generated. The Power
Purchase Agreement (PPA) between K Road and DWP will extend for 25
years, and will help the city of Los Angeles reduce its dependence on the
planets most abundant fossil fuel. Replacing coal with clean energy will
help the Moapa Band of Paiutes regain a sense of freedom, as they have
been breathing air filled with toxic coal dust and drinking water plagued
with coal ash since 1965. The Reid Gardner station has polluted us for
such a long time that its taken away from our culture from our right
to practice, said tribe member Calvin Meyers.

6. Such an expansion proposal was opposed for reasons including:
Due to the toxic gases emitting from the plant decreased the amount
of fresh air for the people to live and caused health problems like
asthma, lung diseases, cancer.
Coal is the dirtiest way to generate electricity producing more carbon
dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, than any other fossil fuel. It
releases 72% more C02 than gas when burnt.
Inhaling of the toxic gases by the workers affected their efficiency
decreasing it and causing health problems.
7. In conclusion the Success Story of this plant is significant as an
Example of Public Participation because
This is a example of a plant which encroaches in an already
ecologically brittle area, and putting it in a risk,
The plant involves in it massive amount of activity by Nevada
tribe people. How the movement agglomerated by Nevada tribe
people gets the support from the NGOs, organizations, and the
common people who are the real power after an initial structure to
it.