Maryland
 
Chalk Point Generating Plant

Chalk Point Generating Plant

Power Points

  • Location: Washington, D.C. area in Prince George's County, Maryland, on the Patuxent River
  • Capacity: 2,413 megawatts; capable of operating base load, intermediate and peak levels
  • Equivalent number of homes served: 2,413,000
  • Fuel: Coal, oil, and gas
  • Mirant's Piney Point Oil Pipeline spans 51.5 miles and serves Mirant's nearby Chalk Point and Morgantown plants
  • Customers: Output is sold into the PJM energy market
  • Began service: 1964; acquired by Mirant in 2000
  • Number of employees: 271, comprising a multiskilled workforce where employees are cross-trained in operations and maintenance to ensure safe, clean and reliable production 24/7
  • Contact:
    Misty Allen
    Director, External Affairs
    202 585 3801
    misty.allen@mirant.com

Awards/Recognition

In 2005, Mirant Mid-Atlantic earned awards from the State of Maryland and the Oyster Recovery Partnership for working to help wildlife thrive. Senator Mike Miller (D-MD), state senate majority leader, presented the Governor's Citation to the plant in recognition of employees' efforts.

All of Mirant's Mid-Atlantic operations are Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) certified and have received national recognition for their contributions to wildlife habitat conservation. Efforts include providing artificial nesting structures and planting native trees, shrubs, and aquatic plants.

It’s a county of opposites: home to both a 13,000-acre wildlife refuge and some of the most technically advanced air and spacecraft at Andrews Air Force Base and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mirant's Chalk Point Generating Plant, the largest power plant in Maryland, helps support this thriving economic hub with sensitivity to the pristine environment at its back door.

Chalk Point employees work alongside their colleagues at three other Mirant Mid-Atlantic plants to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries through various projects, including raising and releasing threatened fish species, oyster plantings, and habitat conservation. As an example, Chalk Point's aquaculture facility raises and releases 200,000 fish each year.

Chalk Point's numerous wildlife and fishery programs have earned certifications from the Wildlife Habitat Council since 1991.

The 40-year-old plant is ISO 14001:2004 certified, which means it meets a widely accepted international standard for environmentally responsible operation.


Environmental Technologies

Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Controls

  • Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system to reduce NOx
  • Unit 1 and 2 boilers equipped with low-NOx burners and separated over-fire air (SOFA) technology
  • Selective autocatalytic reduction (SACR) technology

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Controls

  • Flue gas desulfurization (scrubbers) to reduce SO2 being installed; to be operable by 2010

Mercury Controls

  • Mercury reduced through the use of scrubbers

Other Controls

  • Use of electrostatic precipitators designed to remove 98 percent of flyash during start up and 99.2 percent during normal operation
  • Use of stack monitoring equipment for opacity (smoke), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), SO2 and NOx
  • Closed-circuit cooling tower system in place
  • All plant drains, storm drains, coal pile run-off and cooling tower sediments and solids are collected and treated

Community Outreach

Making a House a Home

Chalk Point employees helped collect a houseful of furniture for a struggling family with two special needs children. Employees donated what they had on hand and rallied support from a local church for more contributions.

Patuxent River Shoreline Cleanup

Patuxent River Shoreline Cleanup

Each year, Chalk Point employees remove hundreds of pounds of debris from a two-mile length of shoreline in the annual Patuxent River Shoreline Cleanup.

Wildlife Adventure Day

Wildlife Adventure Day

Chalk Point employees team up with their Morgantown and Piney Point Pipeline colleagues to host Wildlife Adventure Day each May. The annual event teaches youth about environmental conservation practices, and features demonstrations from local wildlife experts.

Other Outreach Activities

  • Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
  • Clean Air Partners
  • Living Classrooms of National Capitol Region
  • Oyster Recovery Project
  • Put-Cancer-On-Ice/ American Cancer Society
  • USHYEE / Mirant Academic Grant Program

Charitable Donations

  • Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin-Potomac River Sojourn
  • Piedmont Environmental Education Foundation
  • John Poole Middle School
  • Montgomery County Chamber Valor Awards
  • Poolesville High School
  • Upper Montgomery County Fire Department
  • Western Upper Montgomery County Help
  • LINKages for Learning
  • 4-H Clubs of Montgomery County

The Benefits of Competition in Maryland

Maryland Public Service Commission»