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Coal Plants in Minnesota

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The one new coal plant proposed to be built in Minnesota is projected by NRDC to generate 136,403 tons of contaminated coal waste, including 126 tons of toxic metals. Minnesota ranks 30th in waste production expected from new coal plants, and 30th in toxic metals from those plants.

Minnesota ranks 26th in the country for contaminated coal waste, with 1,544,110 tons of waste reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in 2005. The state also ranks 28th in toxic metals contaminating its coal waste, with 1,021 tons of toxic metals, based on NRDC estimates.

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Statistics for Proposed Plants in Minnesota

Plant	County	Estimated tons of coal waste	Estimated tons of toxic metals
Mesaba IGCC	Itasca	136,403	126

Statistics for Existing Plants in Minnesota

Plant	Owner (primary)	County	Tons of waste	Percent of waste disposed	Tons of toxic metals
Sherburne County	Northern States Power Co	Sherburne	939,500	98.6%	505
Clay Boswell Energy Center	Minnesota Power Inc	Itasca	281,200	100.0%	214
Allen S King	Northern States Power Co	Washington	76,000	50.8%	39
Riverside (NSP)	Northern States Power Co	Hennepin	60,400	35.1%	66
Black Dog	Northern States Power Co	Dakota	45,000	12.9%	49
High Bridge	Northern States Power Co	Ramsey	39,810	3.0%	24
Taconite Harbor Energy Center	Minnesota Power Inc	Cook	32,800	100.0%	45
Silver Bay Power Co.	Cleveland Cliffs Inc	Lake	27,500	100.0%	27
Hoot Lake	Otter Tail Power Co	Otter Tail	21,700	100.0%	32
Syl Laskin	Minnesota Power Inc	St Louis	20,200	100.0%	22

Percent of waste disposed indicates the proportion of contaminated coal waste disposed of in landfills, ponds, or on- or off-site disposal facilities. For detailed information on how each plant reported its waste disposal in 2005, see the detailed data Excel spreadsheet.

Sources: permit applications for new plants, Energy Information Administration data, NRDC estimates. The most recent data available from the EIA is from 2005 and it is possible that operational changes at particular plants will have changed the yearly waste volumes and disposal methods. Click here for detailed glossary of terms and our methodology.

The numbers presented on this and related webpages assume that proposed plants if built would be conventional coal-fired plants. Of the proposed plants included in the national data set, 13 might use gasification, a process that results in a different form of waste, with a much lower environmental risk. Click here for projections that exclude those plants from the overall waste numbers and rankings.

last revised 3/12/2009