Bartow Power Plant

The Paul L. Bartow Power Plant came online in 1958. Recently, the Florida facility underwent major overhauls and upgrades that changed its primary fuel source from oil to natural gas while increasing its generative capacity from 400 megawatts to 1.2 gigawatts. In addition, the upgrades have resulted in a 98% reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions.

Power generation facilities constructed before the early 1980s were likely to have incorporated massive amounts of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) throughout the building and machinery. Asbestos was used primarily because of their resistance to fire and heat; however, crocidolite asbestos (also known as “blue” asbestos) is also effective as a form of electrical insulation. This type of asbestos is one of the most toxic varieties known; although all types of asbestos are known to play a part in the development of lung cancer, crocidolite and amosite (“brown” asbestos) work much faster in causing the cellular mutations that result in cancers such as mesothelioma.

ACMs were common building materials in any event, but in power plants, they were found any or all of the following locations:

• electrical cloth
• fire doors
• pipe and conduit lagging
• work surfaces
• turbines

In moving machinery such as turbines, ACMs created a particular hazard by ejecting millions of asbestos fibers into the air, where they were not only inhaled and ingested, but settled in worker's hair and on their clothing as well. Tragically, they unknowingly brought these fibers into their homes, where secondary exposure to family members resulted. There are several documented cases in which wives and children developed mesothelioma as a result of such exposure.

In 2003, medical researchers in Puerto Rico examined chest x-rays from 1100 power plant workers. The results of the study, published in 2007, showed that there were indications of asbestos disease in 13% of the subjects. Power plants such as Bailey are regarded by industrial health experts as the most hazardous of industrial jobsites when it comes to asbestos.

If you or a family member have ever been employed at Bartow, it is important to discuss this with your primary care doctor and get regular health screenings as well. Recent advances in biotechnology have enabled pathologists to detect protein “markers” in the blood that indicate the early stages of mesothelioma. When detected in its early stages, mesothelioma prognosis can be encouraging, although the disease can recur later and lifelong health monitoring is usually necessary.

This site was one of thousands of factories, mills, power plants and worksites that, during much of the last century, used the fibrous mineral asbestos for its ability to insulate against fire. It is ironic that protecting lives was generally one of the driving justifications for utilizing asbestos in companies because the outcome was actually to place employees at risk of serious illness due to asbestos exposure. The reason so many workers have died from illnesses such as pleural plaques and cancer is that when humans inhale asbestos strands, the mineral embeds itself into respiratory passages; once there, the sharp, microscopic spikes damage cells. In addition, mesothelioma, which is a rare but deadly cancer of the lining surrounding the lungs, has been proven to be caused by even low levels of exposure to asbestos.

Because numerous studies have uncovered the link between being exposed to asbestos and diseases such as mesothelioma, present-day employees are protected by laws that control how asbestos is handled. Even as late as the 1970s, however, workers unprotected by masks or other safety equipment commonly toiled in places thick with asbestos dust. In addition, employees took asbestos particles to their homes in their clothes and hair when showers weren't offered at the job site; as a result, the potentially deadly mineral also put at risk anyone who shared a house with those who worked near asbestos.

People who were employed here in the past, as well as family members of such workers, are advised to learn more about these health conditions and tell their healthcare professionals about their history of asbestos exposure, because the signs of mesothelioma disease and other asbestos-related illnesses can be mistaken for those of less serious conditions.

Sources

Bowker, Michael. Deadly Deception (New York: Touchstone, 2003)

Cabrera-Santiago, Manuel et al. “Prevalence of Asbestos-Related Disease Among Electrical Power Generation Workers in Puerto Rico.” Presentation at American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, 2007.

Progress Energy Corporate Website. "Progress Energy Bartow Power Plant Celebrates 50 Years of Service."
http://www.progress-energy.com/aboutus/news/article.asp?id=20302