I live close to a coal-fired power plant. Is the air I’m breathing safe?
Large power plants have tall stacks to disperse air pollutants over large distances. The taller the stack, the greater the dispersal distance and the lower the pollutant concentrations at the ground near the plant. All large coal-fired plants are required to show through air dispersion modeling that they do not exceed state and federal standards for outdoor air quality. These standards are designed to protect human health with a margin of safety. Federal law requires EPA to update the standards every 5 years based on the latest scientific studies. These standards could become stricter in the future as some scientific studies are showing health effects at levels below the current standards for some pollutants.
