The bioenvironmental impact of a coal-fired power plant, Colstrip, Montana, December 1977. Interim report No. 3

Technical Report · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6438180

Preston, E M; Lewis, R A

The EPA has recognized the need for a rational approach to the incorporation of ecological impact information into power facility siting decisions in the northern great plains. Research funded by the Colstrip, Coal-fired Power Plant Project is a first attempt to generate methods to predict the bioenvironmental effects of air pollution before damage is sustained. Pre-construction documentation of the environmental characteristics of the grassland ecosystem in the vicinity of Colstrip, Montana began in the summer of 1974. Since then, key characteristics of the ecosystem have been monitored regularly to detect possible pollution impacts upon plant and animal community structure. In the summer of 1975, field stressing experiments were begun to provide the data necessary to develop dose-response models for SO/sub 2/ stress on a grassland ecosystem. These experiments involve continuous stressing of one acre grassland plots with measured doses of SO/sub 2/ during the growing season (usually April through October). Results of the 1975 field season's investigations are summarized in this publication. The six-year project will terminate in 1980 and a final report will be published after data analyses are complete.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR (USA). Corvallis Environmental Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6438180
• Report Number(s): PB-280326; EPA-600/3-78-021
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
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29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
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550500* -- Metabolism
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
BIOLOGICAL MODELS
CHALCOGENIDES
ECOSYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FORECASTING
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POWER PLANTS
SITE SELECTION
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS