FALL RIVER, Mass. -- A report from a coalition of anti-coal activist groups estimates the health costs related to emissions from Brayton Point Power Station amounted to up to $294 million in 2012.
The report commissioned by Coal Free Massachusetts, a coalition of environmental, health and community organizations, adds up the costs from treating asthma and other respiratory illnesses that can be caused or aggravated by the emission of lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from Brayton Point, the largest coal-fired power plant in New England.
The coalition announced the release of the report on Wednesday at a news conference in Fall River's Kennedy Park, on the other side of the Taunton River from Brayton Point in Somerset.
The company that owns Brayton Point says that it has invested more than $1 billion in recent years to reduce the plant's impact on air and water.