Mysterious blue haze over Charleston, WV

reply to post by Frith


Hum, would that be St. Albans, & Nitro or So. Charleston. However, all of Kanawha Valley is considered chemical valley as far as I remember.

i just found this after exploring another AEP plant in Ohio.. they installed SCR's (scrubber technology) to reduce CO2 and mercury output. they had a similar 'blue haze' problem.. this is what the AEP website says..

Conversion to low-sulfur coal at one unit of our Tanners Creek Plant in Indiana was completed last year. More than 45 percent of our coal-fired power plant capacity will be equipped with SCRs and more than 48 percent will have FGDs. These actions are projected to reduce NOx emissions by 79 percent and SO2 emissions by 65 percent from 1994 levels by 2010, while generating 17 percent more electricity annually. Mercury emissions will decline an additional 55 percent from current levels by 2010.

The improvement in SO2 and NOx environmental performance at our coal plants was a trade-off. Pollution control systems consume additional energy and reduce plant efficiency per unit of electrical output. In addition, SO2 scrubbers will increase CO2 emissions as the limestone chemistry captures SO2 but releases CO2.

Installing leading-edge technology can sometimes create unexpected consequences. This occurred at AEP�s Gavin Plant, near Cheshire, Ohio, after SCR equipment was installed to reduce NOx emissions in 2002. The SCR equipment reduced the NOx emissions but also created bluish plumes (sulfur trioxide) that touched down in Cheshire and caused considerable community upset.

We took immediate steps to mitigate the blue plume and fixed the problem within months. We developed a process that we intend to use to control emissions at other power plants equipped with both FGDs and SCRs. The Gavin Plant experience was a painful and costly lesson, but resulted in a solution to prevent the same consequences at other plants.

www.aep.com...

but then check out what happened to cheshire ohio..
www.cheshiretransaction.com...

hmmmm... sulfur trioxide..

you have no choice but to go about your day and ignore the gas's- despite whether you think they are lying and trying to cover it up or not.

Most people can't afford anything to help improve their air quality and make it safe....in situations like this- theres nothing you can do. You can't pack up and move, you can't complain because everyone says its safe, and you can't do anything about it. Flat out.

This is why we create our own demise- because we can't control the things we produce like from a power plant or nuclear plant. The idea of a nuclear plant is scary enough for any town but for it to leak....well that is the definition of "screwed"

Originally posted by folkinguitarist
The SCR equipment reduced the NOx emissions but also created bluish plumes (sulfur trioxide) that touched down in Cheshire and caused considerable community upset.

OK, somebody please tell us what sulfur trioxide can do to an un-born baby, or others? Our West Virginia brothers and sisters need to know what they are possibly dealing with.

The fact that nobody will fess up, has me more than worried that this could cause some harm.

Remember, we have national media telling us we don't know what it is, but don't worry, and go back to watching Opra.

ATS members are not the same TV viewing audience as previous generations. We don't buy that.

probably unrelated but still a strange coincidence... Brussels (belgium, europe) has been hit with a mysterious mercury cloud. Levels are reaching 250 nannogrammes per cubic metre (normal would be 2, max 6). Authorities still don't know where it's coming from but are telling the people that it's not really harmful.

sounds familiar?

link to newsarticle

Here's a previous news released from the AEP power plant about planned installation of scrubbers...
AEP News: construction plans

AEP’s construction program will continue in 2008 as the company moves forward with work already in progress to install emissions reduction equipment at three additional plants. AEP is installing scrubbers on three generating units at Amos Plant in St. Albans, W.Va.

If it's using the latest technology, it may be the ammonia-based e-beam scrubber system:
See Wikipedia: flue gas desulfurization technology

Here's a paper that talks about "blue plume" from power plants during startup (low temp)....

Sulphuric Acid mist?

-jsd

reply to post by mister Jones

well.. if you read up on the gavin plant, and even the john amos plant.. the tall smoke stacks are tall like that so that the pollutants are carried far away.. in our case most of the chemicals that don't fall on my town end up in canada and michigan.. or europe.. if they catch the trade winds right..

reply to post by seawolf197


well the CDC has info on sulfur trioxide:
Public Health Statement for Sulfur Trioxide and Sulfuric Acid

reply to post by folkinguitarist


re the brussels mercury cloud. The best the authorities have come up with is the idea that someone is burning old wood in his garden that was treated with mercury - thus causing a huge cloud over an entire city for days...

from the newsarticle:
"Frans Fierens (Interregional Environment Unit) confirmed that mercury was very bad for your health, but the levels recorded would not be too harmful."

not TOO harmful???
as in, you don't drop dead on the spot?
google mercury poisoning, that stuff is a real killer

scary

anyway, back to the topic

peace,
mr.Jones

reply to post by worldwatcher


My heart just broke.

Oh no, please don't let it be this. Covering a city with this would be most unfortunate.

Who can we turn to to tell us if this is what it was?

reply to post by seawolf197

see.. that's just it!!

the officials in town are acting like they know nothing..
that town in ohio (if you look at a map) isn't that far from here..
it's like everyone wants to blame it on the chemical plants.
or a leaking train car.. but no chemical plants have announced a leak with the metro 911

there was something this morning about a leak in a chemical car at Dow, but no one ever said if it was connected. and the area being covered with this haze is.. quite large.

Odor, haze linked to power plant emissions, DEP believes

chemical odor and hazy cloud that moved across the Kanawha Valley Friday afternoon appears to have come from a combination of coal-fired power plant emissions, state Department of Environmental Protection investigators believe.

Link to source

I found this at the West Virginia Gazette.

I just find it odd, that this would be the true explanation. Wouldn't we have seen this before in a place called Chemical Valley?

Well, I did some reading. Chlorine gas is yellowish green it sounds like, but not blue. Amonia gas is other colors, but not blue.

Sulfuric acid, I don't remember it really having a color with what I just read.

Wouldn't a coal burning smell be different than a Chlorine smell? Has anyone been around burning coal that smelled like Chlorine? Coal has a dirtier smell to it, from what I remember.

Maybe we've got a combination of things making this blue?

The cloud smells like Chlorine. Chlorine isn't good for you. Why would it be assumed to be safe in this stuff?

We've had numerous articles with depicting strange residue to colored clouds/mist. Coincidence? If I see something like this in my area, or we keep hearing about stuff like this, my conspiracy radar will definitely be active.

Troy

while haze has been around for a long time
what bothers me most is the smell of chorine
and that weather guy trying to justify the blue
haze due to snow melt is just ludicrous.

secondly, I don't know what the florida incident
has to do with the wv incident ?? maybe I'm stupid
unless they were trying to imply that lots of stuff
are happening at the same time. Cuz I don't believe
the 2 events are related else that blue haze would
have been noticed long before it got to wv if it's
source was the florida glow.

reply to post by seawolf197

well i guess i was right.. now we'll see what happens..

probably nothing, because i'm sure AEP figured out at the Gavin plant just exactly how much sulfur trioxide to release without the federal government getting onto them.. "unusual weather event indeed"

I live in Southern WV (McDowell Co.) and I for one would be trying to high-tail it out of the area. I have family that lives there and I'm trying to get in contact with them now to see if they have been affected by the blue "haze".

I haven't seen anyone mention it, but what are the chances that this is a bio attack? WV would be a prime place to attack due to the large concentration of chemical plants and nuclear stations. Can you say havoc?

If I receive any word from family in the area I'll report back with what they say.

I have family in that area also... It's beautiful down there but it's called Chemical Valley.

This is scary. Will have to call them all tomorrow to find out if everybody is ok.

Could one possibility be that it isn't due to one single dump but the combined effects of dumping over a long period which has finally reached it's breaking point? Another strong candidate is Hexachlorocyclopentadiene (HCCPD) which states that it's vapor is a blue haze.

This information comes curtosy of guys over here - www.godlikeproductions.com...

www.atsdr.cdc.gov...

What is hexachlorocyclopentadiene?

HCCPD is a manufactured chemical that does not occur naturally. It is a light, lemon-yellow liquid that has a sharp musty odor. It easily evaporates into the air; the vapor looks like a blue haze.

HCCPD is used in the manufacture of certain pesticides. Most of the HCCPD in the environment results from releases during its production and disposal. It is also used to make flame retardants, resins that won't burn, shock-proof plastics, esters, ketones, fluorocarbons, and dyes.

[edit on 26/1/2008 by Muppetus Galacticus]

Yay! how nice I live in Charleston and didn't know about this till um now 4:54AM the next morning.... good job local news alerts that are supposed to flash across the screen...

I was outside earlier today I didn't notice anything funny nor did I notice a smell...

Ill check it out once theres some light outside and see if anythings up...

With that said as many have already stated there are chemical plants ALL over

Heres Google maps of the area , The area in red is the Plant in the immediate area, Dow Chemical Company/Union Carbide, however there are plants several miles up and down the river.
there are also various smaller facilities throughout the area,


Map

seawolf197, story seems iffy I've lived here all my life and umm coal doesn't smell like chlorine, and the crap coming out of the stacks at the local power plant can be seen from here about 20 miles away... its always white not even a hint of blue... a lot of people would confuse them with clouds actually.. but on a clear day they are the only clouds in the sky =P

[edit on 26-1-2008 by C0le]

There was some blue haze reported in Kanawha Valley on Wednesday as well.

wowktv.com...

INSTITUTE -- The odor complaints from the Bayer Plant in Institute appear to be continuing. The latest was this week, but state inspectors at the plant on Wednesday found no source for that odor or the reported blue haze.

Chemical odors in the Kanawha Valley are nothing new, but in the last couple of months the stinch seems to be more potent than usual coming from the Bayer Plant in Institute.