The Riverbend Steam Station is a relic of the past. This plant first came online in 1929, the same year that the Great Depression started¹. Though upgraded in the 1950s, its coal boilers are an average of 56 years old. This plant operates only 25% of the time and is not needed to keep the lights on in North Carolina (Ventyx Energy Database 2011).

Instead, it is responsible for premature deaths, heart attacks, hospital visits, asthma and other respiratory problems. As it is not fitted with modern pollution controls, this plant continues to emit a deadly brew of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury. Two of the plant’s coal ash impoundments have been rated as high hazards by the EPA, meaning that a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life².” Continuing to operate this plant is an unacceptable risk to the communities near it and the environment. It’s time to shut it down. Click here to find out more about this plant...