I wouldn’t want to live near this plant, despite what apologists like to claim. Being able to see the plume is bad enough.
The Clean Air Task Force, a national nonprofit atmospheric pollution task force, estimated that 27 people died prematurely in 2010 because of emissions from Crawford. The task force said the annual mortality rate attributed to Crawford ranges from 25 to 75 persons.
Nearby Fisk plant in Little Village saw 15 premature deaths in 2010, the task force estimated. In Cook County there were 150 premature deaths and nearly 3,000 heart attacks attributable to existing power plants, the group said.
Both the Crawford and Fisk plants are owned by Chicago-based Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International.
“We do not believe our plants have any health effects,” said Susan Olavarria, director of governmental affairs and communications at Edison International. “We look at every complaint and we take them very seriously.”
(click to continue reading South Side coal plants blamed for cancer, premature deaths | News | Chicago Journal.)