Coal fueling energy debate (WA)

[jpak]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003496452_mercury27m.html

On the outskirts of Centralia, the state's only coal-fired power plant stands like a factory from another world, shining bright around the clock, steam and smoke pouring forth as it generates enough electricity to light all of Seattle.

But that power comes at a price — pollution.

Until new equipment went in about five years ago, the plant was blamed for much of the haze that obscured views of Mount Rainier. Today, the 470-foot-tall smokestack remains the state's largest single source of poisonous mercury.

But efforts to crack down on that mercury pollution may ensure the Centralia plant remains a rarity in Washington as a power plant fed by coal.

<much more>