I sent this e mail to the SJ Mercury, but as usual they do not publish letters with opposing views. Don Lutz

Attached letter published below.

Letters to the Editor
Mercury News

Subject: Coyote Valley power plant.

Dear Editor:

I have two reservations about Calpine�s new combined cycle natural gas fired power plant located in the Coyote Valley close to residential homes. First, the cooling towers are supplied with water effluent from the San Jose sewage plant. The cooling towers will exhaust three million gallons per day of this water into the atmosphere in the form of mist and vapor. Certainly there will be down drafts that will place some of the mist and vapor in the surrounding neighborhoods. Although this water is said to be treated, how free from bacteria is it? Will these neighborhoods be subjected to airborne bacteria?

Secondly, I am told by experts of the Sandia National Lab in Livermore that to be effective, treatment of aqueous ammonia into combustion exhaust gases to reduce nitrogen oxides requires the temperature of the gas to be about 1,600o Fahrenheit. As explained in the 6/8 Mercury news article the ammonia injection does not take place until after the gases have passed through the steam generator. It is too cold here for the reaction to be effective. Perhaps this is why there is still 186 tons per year of nitrogen oxides emitted.

While it appears that the plant in general is efficient and of modern technology, I think it would be better to site it out in the desert some place, not in the residents back yard.

Sincerely

Donald E. Lutz Registered Professional Engineer
1299 Weibel Way
San Jose, CA 95125 Tel 559-4894