John W. Turk Jr. Coal Plant

Though first proposed in 2006, lawsuits aiming to protect the environment surrounding the project's proposed site delayed its groundbreaking. Plaintiffs cited potential damage to the area's fish, wildlife, grasslands, and cypress and hardwood groves.{{Cite web |title=Smoke on the Water: Stopping a Coal-fired Power Plant in Arkansas |date=15 February 2012 |publisher=Audubon Magazine |url=http://www.audubon.org/magazine/january-february-2008/smoke-water-stopping-coal-fired-power | accessdate=July 30, 2016}}

As part of a settlement reached in December 2011 with the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, Audubon Arkansas and the Hempstead County Hunting Club, American Electric Power/SWEPCO agreed to close one of the 528-megawatt generating units at its J. Robert Welsh Power Plant in Texas by the end of 2016 and purchase 400 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by the end of 2014.{{Cite web |title=SWEPCO: Legal challenges to Turk plant settled |date= 22 December 2011|publisher= Arkansas Democrat Gazette| url=http://m.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/dec/22/swepco-says-legal-challenges-turk-plant-settled/| accessdate= February 5, 2014}}

The settlement also required the company to contribute $8 million to The Nature Conservancy, $2 million to the Arkansas Community Foundation, and reimburse $2 million in legal fees.{{Cite web |title= AEP Resolves All Legal Challenges Against Turk Plant| publisher = Arkansas Electric Power| url=http://www.aep.com/newsroom/newsreleases/?id=1737| accessdate = February 24, 2014}} American Electric Power/SWEPCO agreed to never install additional generating units at the plant or build another coal-fired facility within 30 miles.

SWEPCO announced in January 2012 it had reached 20-year agreements to purchase 359 megawatts of wind power from sources in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, more than quadrupling its wind power portfolio.{{cite web |url=http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/30318/as-part-of-turk-settlement-with-sierra-club-swepco-buys-wind-energy |title=As Part of Turk Settlement with Sierra Club, Swepco Buys Wind Energy |last1=Turner |first1=Lance |date=January 25, 2012 |publisher=Arkansas Business |accessdate= February 23, 2014}} The Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, 7 percent owner of the Turk plant, entered a 25-year agreement in 2012 to purchase 49 megawatts of wind power capacity.

{{cite web |url=http://ompa.com/2012/01/ompa-to-purchase-49-2-megawatts-of-canadian-hills-wind-farm |title=OMPA To Purchase 49.2 Megawatts Of Canadian Hills Wind Farm |date=25 January 2012 |publisher=Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority |accessdate=February 23, 2014}}

American Electric Power/SWEPCO estimates the plant's ultra-supercritical combustion achieves between 39 and 40 percent efficiency. To overcome material stress from the plant's high pressure and temperature, engineers used new nickel and chrome alloys in the boiler and its components.{{Cite web |title=Ultra-supercritical generation: Increased Efficiency with Increased Environmental Performance |publisher=American Electric Power |url=https://www.swepco.com/global/utilities/lib/docs/info/projects/TurkPlant/supercriticalfactsheet.pdf |accessdate=February 5, 2014 |archive-date=June 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614090332/https://swepco.com/global/utilities/lib/docs/info/projects/TurkPlant/supercriticalfactsheet.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Compared to a conventional coal-fired plant of similar output, AEP/SWEPCO estimated the Turk facility's ultra-supercritical process would use 180,000 fewer tons of coal and produce 320,000 fewer tons of carbon dioxide annually.{{Cite web |title= Boilermakers help build first U.S. ultra-supercritical unit |date=24 February 2012 |publisher=The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers| url=http://www.boilermakers.org/news/jobs/Boilermakers_help_build_first_US_ultra-supercritical_unit |accessdate=February 16, 2014}} Ash and other solid waste is disposed of at an on-site landfill lined with a synthetic material.{{Cite web|title=John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant – Environmental Fact Sheet|publisher=Southwestern Electric Power Company|url=http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/sites/energy/reports/TURKenvironmentalfactsheet01-10-12.pdf|type=PDF|accessdate=March 2, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302232342/http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/sites/energy/reports/TURKenvironmentalfactsheet01-10-12.pdf|archivedate=March 2, 2014}}

Emissions controls at the plant include selective catalytic reduction for nitrous oxide, flue-gas desulfurization for sulfur dioxide, activated carbon injection for mercury and pulse-jet fabric filter baghouse for particulate matter.{{Cite web|title=John W. Turk Power Plant Update|publisher=American Electric Power|url=http://www.rrva.org/06072012/SWEPCO%20Turk%20Power%20Plant.pdf|date=May 31, 2012|accessdate=March 5, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305210022/http://www.rrva.org/06072012/SWEPCO%20Turk%20Power%20Plant.pdf|archivedate=March 5, 2014}}

In a report published in 2019, the Environmental Integrity Project found levels of lithium in groundwater near the plant are three times of safe limits.{{Cite web |title=Coal's Poisonous Legacy: Groundwater Contaminated by Coal Ash Across the U.S. |publisher=Environmental Integrity Project |url=http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/reports/coals-poisonous-legacy/ |accessdate=March 18, 2019}} Utilities disputed the methodology used in the study.{{Cite web |title=Pollutants judged too high at 4 Arkansas waste sites |publisher=Arkansas Online |url=

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/mar/17/pollutants-judged-too-high-at-4-waste-s/|date=March 17, 2019 |accessdate=March 18, 2019}}

According to data reported to the EPA, the plant released 4,011,207 metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2017.{{Cite web |title= EPA Facility Level GHG Emissions Data |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |url=https://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/service/facilityDetail/2017?id=1010604&ds=E&et=undefined&popup=true |accessdate=March 18, 2019}} The emissions in metric tons comprised:

• Carbon dioxide: 3,979,770
• Methane: 11,500
• Nitrous oxide: 19,937

POWER Magazine awarded the plant its 2013 Plant of the Year Award.

In 2015, Peabody Energy recognized the plant for the lowest nitrous oxide emission rate and lowest heat rate among U.S. coal-fired power plants.{{Cite web |title=Peabody Energy Honors the World's Cleanest Coal Plants |publisher=Peabody Energy |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peabody-energy-honors-the-worlds-cleanest-coal-plants-300189596.html |date=December 8, 2015 |accessdate=July 30, 2016}}

{{Portal|United States|Energy}}

• List of power stations in Arkansas

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==External links==

• [https://www.eia.gov/electricity/data/browser/#/plant/56564 Data on generation and fuel consumption] from the Energy Information Administration Electricity Data Browser

Category:Coal-fired power stations in Arkansas

Category:Buildings and structures in Hempstead County, Arkansas

Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 2012

Category:American Electric Power