Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Washington DC Area Power Plants

The report details a Harvard School of Public Health study on five power plants (Benning, Chalk Point, Dickerson, Possum Point, and Potomac River) near Washington DC. It finds that these plants are linked to over 250 annual deaths and thousands of respiratory and cardiovascular incidents. The analysis highlights that disadvantaged groups—including those with lower education, African-American children, and elderly diabetics—suffer a disproportionate share of these health impacts. The report argues that implementing readily available pollution control equipment could avoid approximately 75% of these deaths and illnesses.

• Emissions of fine particulate matter from the five studied power plants are linked to more than 250 deaths annually. Of these, approximately 60 occur in Maryland, 40 in Virginia, and 20 in Washington DC, with the rest in nearby states. The Chalk Point plant is estimated to have the highest individual impact, causing about 100 deaths per year.
• Beyond mortality, the five plants are estimated to trigger approximately 20,000 asthma attacks, 4,000 emergency room visits, and 300 hospitalizations every year.
• The adoption of readily available pollution control equipment to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions could prevent approximately 75% of the current deaths, hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and asthma attacks attributed to these plants.
• Air pollution from these plants disproportionately affects disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. Specifically, people with less than a high school education account for about half of the mortality impacts despite making up only 25% of the studied population.
• African-American children are disproportionately affected by pediatric asthma emergency room visits linked to the plants' emissions, accounting for more than half of such incidents while representing only 21% of the children studied.
• Elderly individuals with diabetes account for more than half of the cardiovascular hospital admission reductions that would result from reduced emissions, despite comprising only 13% of the elderly population studied.

APA

Thompson, J. W. (2002). Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Washington DC Area Power Plants. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093522/Health-Impacts-of-Air-Pollution-from-Washington-DC-Area-Power-Plants.pdf

Chicago

Thompson, John W. Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Washington DC Area Power Plants. Clean Air Task Force, 2002. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093522/Health-Impacts-of-Air-Pollution-from-Washington-DC-Area-Power-Plants.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Thompson |first1=John W. |title=Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Washington DC Area Power Plants |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=May 2002 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093522/Health-Impacts-of-Air-Pollution-from-Washington-DC-Area-Power-Plants.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thompson2002health, author = {Thompson, John W.}, title = {{Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Washington DC Area Power Plants}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2002}, month = may, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093522/Health-Impacts-of-Air-Pollution-from-Washington-DC-Area-Power-Plants.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }