Hayden
Located in the northwestern Colorado community of Hayden, the Hayden Generating Station is a coal-fired steam-electric station with two operating generating units capable of producing a total of 446 megawatts.
The facility first became operational in 1965 with a single unit; the second unit came online eleven years later. Today, it is considered to be one of the cleaner coal-burning facilities in the nation. The plant does not discharge wastewater offsite, which is normally a major source of pollution; Hayden also employs three types of emission control systems that are able to remove up to 99% of the airborne contaminants normally given off by such facilities. These include “baghouses,” dry scrubbers and low-NOx burner systems.
Asbestos Risks
Industrial health and safety experts have long stated that power plant workers run some of the highest risk of asbestos disease of any industry. A 2003 study from Puerto Rico that was first published in 2007 has confirmed this. Doctors took chest x-rays of 1100 power plant workers that were then examined and analyzed. When tobacco use was taken into account, more than 130 of the images showed early indications of asbestos disease.
Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were a form of insulation that was commonly used almost every industry between the 1860s and the early 1980s. These were found in virtually any area in which heat, flame, electricity and corrosive chemicals were likely to cause injury and property damage. As these materials aged, they became “friable,” which is a crumbling state in which asbestos fibers are released into the environment. These fibers were then inhaled and ingested by employees; they could also become lodged in hair and clothing, where family members were subjected to secondary exposure as these fibers were introduced into the home.
Diagnosing mesothelioma historically has been a challenge to medical personnel. Early symptoms are similar to those of several other respiratory diseases; by the time more specific symptoms begin to appear (usually years after initial exposure), the cancer has reached its final stages. Most patients who are diagnosed at this point have a mesothelioma prognosis of no more than two years at the outside.
Those who were employed at Hayden as well as spouses and children should tell their family physicians about any asbestos exposure they may have experienced. Newly-developed diagnostic tools now enable pathologists to detect the markers of mesothelioma during its early stages when the treatment is far more likely to be effective.
With its high resistance to transferring heat and electricity, asbestos (which occurs in forms such as chrysotile, crocidolite and amosite) was used frequently within almost all factories, mills, power plants and worksites all over the US. It is ironic that reducing the risk of injury was generally one of the driving justifications behind using asbestos in places because the result was in fact to place workers in danger of serious illness or death due to contact with asbestos. The reason is that asbestos fibers, if inhaled, embed themselves into respiratory passages, leading to serious health conditions such as "miner's lung" and lung cancer. The most serious of the asbestos-caused illnesses is mesothelioma, which is a cancer that affects the lining of the abdominal cavity; it is almost always a death sentence for those who contract it.
Today, we are much more knowledgeable about the risks of asbestos exposure, and government regulations protect people whose jobs put them in contact with friable asbestos. Those who worked near asbestos-containing materials before such laws were passed, on the other hand, often spent their shifts in sites where asbestos was prevalent, and they as a rule received little or no guidance regarding safe ways to handle the mineral. In addition, employees carried 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 worked here in the past, as well as those who lived with them, are advised to learn more about these health conditions and tell their healthcare professionals about their history of asbestos exposure, because the signs of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma disease are often mistaken for those of less serious conditions.
Sources
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.
"About Xcel Energy." Xcel Energy Corporate Website. 16 May 2008. Xcel Energy. 26 Apr 2009,
http://www.xcelenergy.com/Company/AboutUs/Pages/Temp.aspx
"SRP: Hayden Generating Station." SRPNet.com. 2009. SRP. 3 May 2009,
http://www.srpnet.com/about/stations/hayden.aspx
