Crawford Station

Crawford Generating Station

Crawford Station (center) with fly ash storage tanks (left).Image: HAER−Historic American Engineering Record.
Country United States
Location South Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago
Coordinates 41°49′43″N 87°43′22″W / 41.82861°N 87.72278°W / 41.82861; -87.72278Coordinates: 41°49′43″N 87°43′22″W / 41.82861°N 87.72278°W / 41.82861; -87.72278
Status Decommissioned
Decommission date 2012
Owner(s) Midwest Generation

Crawford Generating Station was a coal−fired power plant built in 1924.[1] It was formerly located in South Lawndale community of the West Side district, in Chicago, Illinois.

It was closed in 2012 after a long battle with the community over pollution, like the nearby Fisk Generating Station. Both stations were owned and operated by Midwest Generation, a subsidiary of Edison International.[2] Crawford and Fisk Stations were among the last standing coal generating facilities within a major U.S. city at their time of retirement.

History

Crawford Station was designed by architects Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the successor of the firm that designed Union Station, Soldier Field, The Field Museum, and The Merchandise Mart.[3] The station sat on a 72-acre area consisting of buildings and power generating infrastructure and provided storage for over 300,000 tons of coal.[3] The plant's architectural style has been termed "Industrial Gothic" and makes use of red-brick and stonework masonry, Modern Gothic forms, and renaissance-revival detailing.[3]

The station began operation in 1925.[4] At the time it was the largest of five generating stations that served the city of Chicago, producing a capacity of 750,000 kilowatts.[4] The station was acquired by Midwest Generation when the company was founded in 1999.[4] Midwest Generation also owned and operated the nearby Fisk Generating Station.

Crawford Station was closed in 2012 because owner Midwest Generation determined that the needed environmental retrofits to meet federal air standards were financially impractical.[5]

Emission Reductions

Crawford Station reduced sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by 30% and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 48% in 2001 through the purchase of lower sulfur coal and the installation of new technologies.[4]

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy funded a mercury control project to test Activated Carbon Injection technology at Crawford Station. Crawford become one of the first coal-fired power plants in the country to install permanent mercury controls in 2008.[4] The new technology removed mercury by 90%.[4] Controls to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 70% were installed in 2011.[4]

Station Records

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wernau, Julie (30 August 2012). "Closure of Chicago's Crawford, Fisk electric plants ends coal era". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Administrator, US EPA, Region 5, Office of the Regional. "Midwest Generation - Crawford Station and Fisk Station Sites". www3.epa.gov. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  3. 1 2 3 Preservation Chicago (2014). "Preservation Chicago Unveils the 2014 Chicago 7 Most Threatened...Crawford and Fisk Power Stations" (PDF).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Midwest Generation, LLC (August 30, 2012). "Fisk and Crawford Generating Stations: The Power That Built Chicago".
  5. ↑ "Closure of Chicago's Crawford, Fisk electric plants ends coal era". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
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