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.
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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
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
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
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