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Study: Coal-fired plants still health risk

BOSTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. regions with the highest concentration of coal-fired power plants bear a disproportionate share of negative public health impacts, a report says.

The Clean Air Task Force report focused on Georgia, where researchers say they found health impacts from coal-fired power plant emissions remain severe, with pollution estimated to cause 536 deaths, 396 hospital admissions and 728 heart attacks per year, a task force release said Thursday.

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Georgia ranks 17th in mortality risk in the nation while California, with very few coal-fired power plants, ranks almost last (47th) for power plant mortality risk, the report said.

"There's no excuse in 2010 that power plant pollution cuts short the lives of 536 people per year in Georgia when technology is available that could virtually eliminate this pollution," Amelia Shenstone, Georgia coal organizer for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said.

Coal-fired power plants remain among the top contributors to fine particle pollution, particularly sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide, in the country, the report said.

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