A comparable coal plant proposed for San Antonio is offsetting nearly all of its sulfur emissions by reducing this pollution at other power plants. Sandy Creek on the other hand is being allowed more pollution and is not offsetting any of it. Thus the Riesel plant will add nearly 100 times more sulfur pollution to Texas skies and nearly 2 times as much particulate matter compared to a nearly identical new plant in San Antonio!

Particulate pollution from power plants has serious health impacts, leading to asthma attacks, heart attacks and to premature death. Particulate matter from power plants cuts short over 1000 lives each year in Texas, taking 14 years on average.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area it is estimated that particulate pollution from power plants causes:

• 290 premature deaths each year, plus
• 476 heart attacks
• 38 lung cancer deaths, and
• over 10,000 asthma attacks, over 500 of which require a visit to the emergency room

Sandy Creek Energy Associates has increased their allowable particulate pollution from this plant to unacceptable levels! The particulate emissions in Sandy Creek's proposed draft permit are much higher than that proposed for a comparable plant in San Antonio that is at the same stage in permitting.

In addition, sulfur pollution from the Sandy Creek plant will lead to the formation of secondary particulate matter which is also known to have serious health hazards, traveling deep into the human lung.

For the sake of public health, Sandy Creek Energy Associates must be required to offset sulfur pollution and reduce particulate emissions from this plant!