Tampa Electric has provided reliable energy to West Central Florida for a century. And, because we're more than your service provider — we're your friends and neighbors, too — we feel it's important for you to know that maintaining the quality of our environment has been a goal of Tampa Electric's for many years.
Since 1989, the company has operated a Corporate Stewardship program to restore natural habitats for plants, animal and marine life. Since 1986, we've maintained a state sanctuary for the endangered West Indian Manatee next to our Big Bend Station. And, our employees take part annually in events and activities to clean up Tampa Bay's coastline, shoreline, rivers and waterways.
We have and continue to develop leading-edge technologies to responsibly meet current and future environmental standards. For example, construction of a new flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system — more commonly known as a scrubber — was completed in Dec. 1999. The scrubber has lowered sulfur dioxide emission levels at Big Bend Station.
Because of our commitment to preserving the environment, we feel it's important for you to know — for all of us to know — the types of emissions produced at Tampa Electric's power plants and the possible effects on our quality of life.
In addition to the annual emissions reports that are also available to the public, Tampa Electric has published additional information about the types and quantities of chemicals released into the environment on this Web site. Although our numbers can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory database, we want to make them available to you now.
The only facilities previously required to complete this report were manufacturing facilities. Electric utilities, along with six other manufacturing and industrial categories, reported this data for the first time in 1998.
Because of the quantity and complexity of many of the chemicals listed, we know that you may have questions or concerns about possible health risks. In separate studies conducted by the EPA and the Electric Power Research Institute, overall power plant emissions levels proved too low to cause significant public health concerns. For more details on the TRI program, please see our White Paper. We encourage you to contact us with any questions you have about our release numbers.
Following is a detailed summary of estimated releases from Tampa Electric's power plants in 2006. All quantities listed are in pounds, as required by the EPA for reporting purposes.
Polk Power StationTotal capacity: 540 megawatts
Big Bend Power StationTotal capacity: 1,924 megawatts
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Note:
* In the table above, data for Dioxin and Dioxin-like compounds in grams (as required by EPA) was reported by the facility. TEC has excluded them in the Total Releases (in pounds).
Tampa Electric media contact.
For technical questions call (813) 228-1111 ext. 34740
Interested parties may also visit the EPA's Web site at www.epa.gov
