Cherokee Power Station
The Cherokee Power Station is a coal-fired electrical generation facility located in Denver, Colorado. It is owned and operated by Xcel Energy. The plant first went online in 1957 with a single unit; three more were subsequently added in 1959, 1962 and 1968. The four units have a total generative capacity of 717 megawatts.
Xcel Energy appears to have made efforts to control polluting emissions in its several coal-fired plants. At Cherokee Station, this is done through the use of “baghouses,” which are basically large vacuum cleaners used to remove particulate emissions from the fumes that travel through the flues. They have been successful in reducing emissions by 99 percent. Other measures have been used to reduce levels of nitrous oxide and keep contaminants from entering the South Platte River by treating used water that is released back into the environment.
Asbestos Risks
In 2003, a research study by doctors in Puerto Rico confirmed what industrial health and safety experts had been saying for decades: power plants pose a high danger of asbestos exposure. In the study, chest x-rays from 1100 power plant workers were analyzed; 13% of the subjects were found to have “abnormalities” indicating the early stages of asbestos disease.
Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were used as an insulator throughout the construction of virtually all industrial sites as well as power generating facilities. ACMs were employed anywhere heat, flame, electricity and corrosive chemicals posed a hazard. Over time, these materials became “friable” and gave off asbestos dust. The fibers were not only inhaled and ingested by employees, but became lodged in hair and clothing. In this fashion, asbestos fibers were introduced into the home, subjecting family members to secondary exposure.
Symptoms of mesothelioma are similar to those of many other asbestos diseases, and may not appear for decades after one is first exposed to asbestos. Former Cherokee employees as well as their family members should discuss asbestos exposure with their primary care physician. New methods recently approved by the FDA now enable pathologists to detect the markers of mesothelioma in its earliest stages when it is most treatable and when mesothelioma prognosis is best.
Given its insulating properties, asbestos was frequently used in numerous factories, mills, power plants and worksites around the country. While the use of asbestos was usually intended to protect human life, it unfortunately often had the opposite effect: exposure to asbestos while at work has resulted in serious illness for far too many people. The reason for this is that asbestos strands, if inhaled or ingested, embed themselves into internal organs and cause serious diseases such as pleural plaques and cancer of the lungs. Furthermore, job-related exposure to asbestos can lead to the deadly form of cancer known as mesothelioma disease, which affects the cells that line the pleural cavity (pleural mesothelioma) or the abdominal cavity (peritoneal mesothelioma).
Because research has demonstrated the relationship between being exposed to asbestos and conditions like pleural plaques, present-day workers are protected by government regulations that prescribe how asbestos is to be handled. People who labored around asbestos prior to the implementation of such laws, on the other hand, generally spent their shifts in locations where asbestos was prevalent, and they typically were offered very little guidance concerning safe ways to handle the mineral. In addition, workers carried asbestos particles home in their work garments when showers weren't offered at the company; the consequence of this was that this carcinogen also endangered anyone living with those who worked near asbestos.
Mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses often take a very long time to develop, and symptoms can be difficult to distinguish from those of other conditions, so people who were employed at such plants at any time in the past, as well as those who lived with them, should chat with their doctors about their history of asbestos contact.
Sources
"About Xcel Energy." Xcel Energy Corporate Website. 16 May 2008. Xcel Energy. 26 Apr 2009,
http://www.xcelenergy.com/Company/AboutUs/Pages/Temp.aspx
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.
Wagman, David. "Fast Track Innovation at Cherokee Station." Power Engineering 08 2006.
