Mon Power’s Harrison Plant Tops EPA’s Toxic Release List Statewide

A power plant in Harrison County releases more toxic material into the air than any other facility in the state, according to federal data.

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory.

The plant is responsible for 7.4 million pounds of toxic releases into the air and water every year.

Sulfuric acid accounts for most of what the plant releases into the air, and ammonia into the water.

Hannah Catlett, a spokeswoman for Mon Power parent FirstEnergy, said the company complies with all environmental regulations. 

The next four facilities on the Toxic Release Inventory are also coal-burning power plants, but all four release fewer than 3 million pounds annually.

The four are the Pleasants Power Station, now operated by Omnis Technologies; Appalachian Power’s John Amos plant; Mon Power’s Fort Martin Power Station and Dominion Power’s Mount Storm Power Station.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sulfuric acid forms when sulfur dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas reacts with water in the air.

According to a Mon Power fact sheet, the Harrison Power Station is equipped with pollution controls that remove 98 percent of sulfur dioxide from the plant’s emissions.