Source: Industry Today

New research published in the most recent editions of The Lancet and The Lancet Oncology journals has once again underscored the negative health effects of long-term and short-term exposure to air pollution, especially pollutants from traffic exhaust fumes in urban environments. Two studies link air pollution to a higher risk of lung cancer and now even heart failure.

Source: PRNewswire

Coal use to become more environmentally friendly thanks to enviraPAC's new technology

Source: Spokesman-Review

Large wakes from powerboats speeding down Newman Lake are pounding the shoreline, leading to severe erosion in some areas.

Source: POWER Engineering

The optimal selection of control technologies to limit mercury emissions depends on the type of coal-fired unit (new or existing), the rank of the coal and existing emission control systems.

Source: EBR

US-based energy industry services provider NAES announced that its subsidiary NAES Power Contractors has secured a contract from a firm located in Midwest to install air quality control systems at its coal-fired plant.

Under the contract, the company will install a new Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) system and an Activated Carbon Injection (ACI) system at a coal-fired generating station.

Source: Smithsonian.com

Last January, air pollution reached new levels of toxicity in China. Just how bad did things get? According to the Chinese Air Quality Index (AQI), measurements of particulate matter in the air reached more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter the northeastern part of country. That probably doesn’t mean anything to you without context though, so here it is: anything above 300 is considered “hazardous” and citizens are warned that they “may experience more serious health effects.” For even more context, consider that the U.S. AQI only goes up to 500. Air quality in China is a constant concern and while the recent toxic cloud has dissipated for now, a number of businesses are creating new ways to battle pollution at every scale – from personal designer face masks to inflatable architecture.

Source: Mountain View VOICE    by Daniel DeBolt

TCE vapors reach unacceptable levels; efforts to remedy it in progress

Source: Duluth News Tribune    By: John Myers

Coal-fired power plants in Minnesota have cut the amount of mercury they send through smokestacks by more than half in the last 15 years as the state tried to reduce its residents’ exposure to the toxic metal.

Source: kearneyhub.com

The Grand Island City Council will face a $42 million purchase Tuesday night.

That’s the contract amount for the city to buy equipment to lessen the amount of mercury and other chemicals discharged from the Platte Generating Station, the city’s coal-fired power plant.

Source: GpB

Efforts to reduce mercury emissions from Plant Scherer have worked in spite of initial resistance from the power plant's owners, environmentalists say.

The massive coal-fired plant in Juliette was third on the Environmental Integrity Project's "Toxic 10" list of the worst mercury emitters based on 2008 data, but didn't even appear on the group's report released Thursday based on 2011 data (as first noted by the Telegraph's S. Heather Duncan).