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Detroit Edison's Conners Creek Power Plant Earns ISO 14001 Certification

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 15:00 CDT

DETROIT, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees, company officials and guests today celebrated the Conners Creek Power Plant's successful completion of the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 14001 certification process.

The Conners Creek Power Plant, located at 100 Lycaste St., is the 14th DTE Energy facility to receive the environmental management certification. With the certification of Conners Creek, 100 percent of Detroit Edison's electric generation fleet is compliant with the ISO 14001 standard.

Conners Creek is a natural gas fired plant that can produce 240 megawatts of power. It is operated primarily in the summer, to help meet the peak demand for electricity during the air conditioning season.

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard that provides a facility with the basic framework for managing environmental impacts. Certification requires that employees must be aware of how their job can impact the environment. An environmental management system certified to the ISO 14001 standard is effective because it involves every aspect of a facility's activities that can affect the environment. Periodic reviews of the system, by a third party after certification, ensure that it continues to be effective in the future.

Plant Manager Brian Rice said that earning certification was truly a team effort that demonstrates the commitment of all plant personnel to their individual and collective role as stewards of the environment.

"The employees of the Conners Creek Power Plant are keenly aware that they have a personal responsibility for protecting the environment day in and day out," he said. "This is a commitment we have made to our families, friends and neighbors and to future generations."

Helping to achieve the certification were the plant's 27 members of Local 223 of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO.

"Utility Workers Union Local 223 wishes to congratulate all those who worked in reaching this milestone," said James Harrison, President, Local 223. "Of all the many areas of joint effort between labor and management, there are not many that leave such a lasting impact as those that protect the environment, prevent pollution and improve environmental performance. This ISO 14001 certification achieves just that."

Harrison added, "This achievement also demonstrates to the neighborhood surrounding Conners Creek, including the Detroit River watershed, that an industrial site can have low environmental impact. Congratulations on a job well done."

The Conners Creek Power Plant has been in operation, in various configurations, since 1915. The original configuration consisted of low-pressure, coal-fired boilers with seven 350-foot-high exhaust stacks. These stacks were a prominent landmark for Detroit River boaters who dubbed them "seven sisters." That portion of the plant was demolished in 1996, after having been idle for more than a decade.

The current generating units were constructed in 1951 as high-pressure, coal-fired units. The exhaust stacks for the newer units became known as the "two brothers."

Those units were mothballed in 1987 and converted to natural gas in 1998 to meet the current emissions standards. The plant is equipped a number of newer emissions control systems including low-NOX burners to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, flue gas recirculation and continuous emission monitoring.

DTE Energy is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan and other non- utility, energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, coal and gas midstream, unconventional gas production and energy trading. Information about DTE Energy is available at http://www.dteenergy.com/ .

Detroit Edison

CONTACT: John J. Austerberry, +1-313-235-8859, or Lorie N. Kessler,+1-313-235-8807, both for Detroit Edison

Web site: http://www.dteenergy.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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