UPDATE: Brandon Shores Scrubber Project
December, 2007
Approximately five percent of the construction of the scrubbers and other air pollution control equipment on the two generating units of the Brandon Shores power plant in Pasadena, Maryland were complete as of the start of December 2007.
Constellation is installing flue gas desulfurization (FGD) emissions controls (also called ‘wet scrubbers’) which will reduce the plant’s sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by an estimated 95 percent. The new equipment is one component of a clean air program which will ensure Constellation Energy’s coal-fired power plants will meet all emissions requirements of Maryland’s Healthy Air Act.
Construction of the scrubbers is scheduled to take approximately three years and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2010.
Construction update as of Dec. 5, 2007 includes:
- Approximately 25 to 30 percent of concrete has been placed for the project.
- Concrete is being mixed on the site for the chimney shell, which reduces truck traffic for the project.
- Concrete foundations have been poured for the baghouse portion of the project as well as scrubber vessel, chimney, and the attached equipment building.
- As of the week of Dec. 5, 2007, 110 feet of the concrete shell for the 400-foot chimney for the scrubber project had been placed.
- Work on the chimney is being done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 8-10 feet of the structure are being added daily. The full 400-foot shell for the chimney is scheduled to be completed in January 2008.
- Structural steel for the project is expected to begin arriving on site in March, 2008.
- Approximately 160 additional contract workers are on the site per day working on the scrubber project.
Please note that the Brandon Shores scrubber project is a major undertaking which will require the installation of significant equipment and construction of a large building to house it, as well as construction of a new chimney stack, which will be much shorter than the existing stacks.
Now that construction is underway, residents living near the plant may notice some additional traffic due to added workers needed for the project. Constellation Energy is already addressing the increased traffic and impacts of the increased workforce in several ways including the opening of an additional gate off Solley Road, requiring trucks to use specific routes that avoid community roads, and staggering starting times. We do not expect traffic to be an issue and do not expect this project to create any major issues for the community.
For additional information on the project see the project links on the right.
