139-576: The Fisk Generating Station , also known as Fisk Street Generating Station or Fisk Station is an inactive medium-size, coal-fired electric generating station located at 1111 West Cermak Road in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago , Illinois . It was sited near the south branch of the Chicago River to provide access to water for steam and barge traffic for coal, and closed down in 2012. Fisk Street Station went into service October 2, 1903. It
278-467: A greenhouse gas which is a major contributor to global warming . The results of a recent study show that the net income available to shareholders of large companies could see a significant reduction from the greenhouse gas emissions liability related to only natural disasters in the United States from a single coal-fired power plant. However, as of 2015, no such cases have awarded damages in
417-513: A $ 2-a-day wage increase, the legislation (in part) required the NLRB to issue a ballot outlining all the collective bargaining proposals and counter-proposals, wait 30 days, and then hold a strike vote. The War Labor Disputes Act proved very burdensome. The NLRB processed 2,000 WLDA cases from 1943 to the end of 1945, of which 500 were strike votes. The act's strike vote procedures did little to stop strikes, however, and Millis feared unions were using
556-770: A 2–1 panel vote, the George Bush-appointed Board found that Midwest Generation had not violated the NLRA. In October 2005, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the Board's decision and remanded the case back to the Board with instructions to find that the lockout violated Section 8(a)(1) and (3) of the Act because it unlawfully targeted employees based on their union activity. With respect to
695-601: A company-dominated representative group, called the Utility Employees Union, was deemed illegitimate by the NLRB in 1942. In June 2001, IBEW Local Union 15, with approximately 1,150 members working at seven fossil fuel generating stations throughout Illinois, went on strike against Midwest Generation when contract negotiations broke down. After two months, Local 15 members voted on August 31 to return to their jobs. The union made an unconditional offer to return to work while still negotiating an agreement. "Some of
834-579: A complaint against Midwest Generation. The complaint alleged that the lockout unlawfully targeted employees based on their union activity because the company permitted employees to continue to work during the lockout if they had not struck, or if they had ceased to participate in the strike prior to the union's unconditional offer to return. The case was transferred to the NLRB in May 2002 and in September 2004, by
973-540: A compromise; GE would assume the manufacturing risk and Chicago Edison would pay for the installation. Insull told Coffin: "I will make no claim against you..all you have to do is take the apparatus out and throw it in the junk pile." Fisk Station's mechanical success was immediately apparent, as the new unit produced twice as much power as any steam engine ever built. The turbines achieved 80% energy efficiency, twice Chicago Edison's previous reciprocating unit technology at Harrison Street. They also spun ten times faster than
1112-406: A congressional investigation into employer anti-union activities, and ensuring that investigation was a success. The Economic Division was deeply aware of employer use of labor spies , violence, and company unions to thwart union organizing, and quietly pressed for a congressional investigation into these and other tactics. Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr. took up the suggestion, on June 6, 1936,
1251-630: A cooler cooling system. However, it may be used in cogeneration plants to heat buildings, produce hot water, or to heat materials on an industrial scale, such as in some oil refineries , plants, and chemical synthesis plants. Typical thermal efficiency for utility-scale electrical generators is around 37% for coal and oil-fired plants, and 56 – 60% (LEV) for combined-cycle gas-fired plants. Plants designed to achieve peak efficiency while operating at capacity will be less efficient when operating off-design (i.e. temperatures too low.) Practical fossil fuels stations operating as heat engines cannot exceed
1390-404: A cooler medium must be equal or larger than the ratio of absolute temperatures of the cooling system (environment) and the heat source (combustion furnace). Raising the furnace temperature improves the efficiency but complicates the design, primarily by the selection of alloys used for construction, making the furnace more expensive. The waste heat cannot be converted into mechanical energy without
1529-503: A factory or data center, or may also be operated in parallel with the local utility system to reduce peak power demand charge from the utility. Diesel engines can produce strong torque at relatively low rotational speeds, which is generally desirable when driving an alternator , but diesel fuel in long-term storage can be subject to problems resulting from water accumulation and chemical decomposition . Rarely used generator sets may correspondingly be installed as natural gas or LPG to minimize
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#17327904702691668-695: A feeling of worship is inspired by the gigantic machines, the towering walls, the long-drawn aisles" In 1999, Midwest Generation , a subsidiary of Edison Mission Energy, paid $ 4.8 billion to acquire seven fossil-fuel generating plants and five peaker plants from Commonwealth Edison's corporate parent. With this purchase, Midwest Generation took over operation of the Fisk station as well as Crawford , Waukegan, Powerton (Pekin), Joliet (two) and Will County (Romeoville) stations. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) had represented workers at Commonwealth Edison generating plants since World War II, after
1807-491: A fine filter that collects the ash particles, electrostatic precipitators use an electric field to trap ash particles on high-voltage plates, and cyclone collectors use centrifugal force to trap particles to the walls. A recent study indicates that sulfur emissions from fossil fueled power stations in China may have caused a 10-year lull in global warming (1998-2008). Fossil-fuel power stations, particularly coal-fired plants, are
1946-442: A fire that started at Throop Street where a coal chute conveyor emerged from an underground passage. The fire spread along the coal conveyor to a control room, switch house, boiler and turbine buildings and caused $ 8 million in damages. In addition to the main coal-fired unit, the station had a number of kerosene -fired back-up units: Fossil fuel power station 2021 world electricity generation by source. Total generation
2085-478: A fossil fuel power plant the chemical energy stored in fossil fuels such as coal , fuel oil , natural gas or oil shale and oxygen of the air is converted successively into thermal energy , mechanical energy and, finally, electrical energy . Each fossil fuel power plant is a complex, custom-designed system. Multiple generating units may be built at a single site for more efficient use of land , natural resources and labor . Most thermal power stations in
2224-507: A full term, allowing him to serve until August 27, 2013. The same day, the Senate confirmed Republican nominee Brian Hayes of Massachusetts by voice vote. Effective August 28, 2011, Pearce was named chairman to replace Democrat Wilma Liebman, whose term had expired. Becker's term, as a recess appointee, ended on December 31, 2011. Hayes' term ended on December 16, 2012. On January 4, 2012, Obama announced recess appointments to three seats on
2363-464: A lasting effect on labor law in the U.S., and was the basis for the Taft–Hartley Act of 1947. Madden's term on the NLRB came to an end after just four years. On November 15, 1940, President Roosevelt nominated Harry A. Millis to the NLRB and named him chairman, and nominated Madden to a seat on the U.S. Court of Claims. Another major structural change occurred at the same time that Madden left
2502-636: A major source of industrial wastewater . Wastewater streams include flue-gas desulfurization, fly ash, bottom ash and flue gas mercury control. Plants with air pollution controls such as wet scrubbers typically transfer the captured pollutants to the wastewater stream. Ash ponds , a type of surface impoundment, are a widely used treatment technology at coal-fired plants. These ponds use gravity to settle out large particulates (measured as total suspended solids ) from power plant wastewater. This technology does not treat dissolved pollutants. Power stations use additional technologies to control pollutants, depending on
2641-505: A monument to engineering genius." This 5 MW Curtis turbine generator unit was designated a national engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1975. Fisk Station (the "Street" was dropped after Chicago changed the street name of Fisk to Carpenter in 1937) continued to be a leader in electricity generation. In 1914 another pioneering engineering feat was implemented: horizontally shafted turbines replaced
2780-408: A particular fuel. As an example, a new 1500 MW supercritical lignite-fueled power station running on average at half its capacity might have annual CO 2 emissions estimated as: = 1500MW x 0.5 x 100/40 x 101000 kg/TJ x 1year = 1500MJ/s x 0.5 x 2.5 x 0.101 kg/MJ x 365x24x60x60s = 1.5x10 x 5x10 x 2.5 x 1.01 x 3.1536x10 kg = 59.7 x10 kg = 5.97 Mt Thus the example power station
2919-451: A reciprocating gas engine . All plants use the energy extracted from the expansion of a hot gas, either steam or combustion gases. Although different energy conversion methods exist, all thermal power station conversion methods have their efficiency limited by the Carnot efficiency and therefore produce waste heat . Fossil fuel power stations provide most of the electrical energy used in
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#17327904702693058-433: A serious impact on public health. Power plants remove particulate from the flue gas with the use of a bag house or electrostatic precipitator . Several newer plants that burn coal use a different process, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle in which synthesis gas is made out of a reaction between coal and water. The synthesis gas is processed to remove most pollutants and then used initially to power gas turbines. Then
3197-501: Is a deceiving baseline for comparison: just the Chernobyl nuclear disaster released, in iodine-131 alone, an estimated 1.76 EBq. of radioactivity, a value one order of magnitude above this value for total emissions from all coal burned within a century, while the iodine-131, the major radioactive substance which comes out in accident situations, has a half life of just 8 days. NLRB The National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB )
3336-424: Is a relatively cheap fuel. Coal is an impure fuel and produces more greenhouse gas and pollution than an equivalent amount of petroleum or natural gas. For instance, the operation of a 1000-MWe coal-fired power plant results in a nuclear radiation dose of 490 person-rem/year, compared to 136 person-rem/year for an equivalent nuclear power plant, including uranium mining, reactor operation and waste disposal. Coal
3475-565: Is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices . Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 , the NLRB has the authority to supervise elections for labor union representation and to investigate and remedy unfair labor practices . Unfair labor practices may involve union-related situations or instances of protected concerted activity . The NLRB
3614-419: Is burned that significant amounts of these substances are released. A 1,000 MW coal-burning power plant could have an uncontrolled release of as much as 5.2 metric tons per year of uranium (containing 74 pounds (34 kg) of uranium-235 ) and 12.8 metric tons per year of thorium. In comparison, a 1,000 MW nuclear plant will generate about 30 metric tons of high-level radioactive solid packed waste per year. It
3753-553: Is caused by the emission of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide . These gases may be only mildly acidic themselves, yet when they react with the atmosphere, they create acidic compounds such as sulfurous acid , nitric acid and sulfuric acid which fall as rain, hence the term acid rain. In Europe and the US, stricter emission laws and decline in heavy industries have reduced the environmental hazards associated with this problem, leading to lower emissions after their peak in 1960s. In 2008,
3892-428: Is converted to steam in the boiler; additional heating stages may be included to superheat the steam. The hot steam is sent through controlling valves to a turbine. As the steam expands and cools, its energy is transferred to the turbine blades which turn a generator. The spent steam has very low pressure and energy content; this water vapor is fed through a condenser, which removes heat from the steam. The condensed water
4031-403: Is delivered by highway truck , rail , barge , collier ship or coal slurry pipeline . Generating stations adjacent to a mine may receive coal by conveyor belt or massive diesel-electric -drive trucks . Coal is usually prepared for use by crushing the rough coal to pieces less than 2 inches (5 cm) in size. Gas is a very common fuel and has mostly replaced coal in countries where gas
4170-507: Is estimated that during 1982, US coal burning released 155 times as much uncontrolled radioactivity into the atmosphere as the Three Mile Island incident . The collective radioactivity resulting from all coal burning worldwide between 1937 and 2040 is estimated to be 2,700,000 curies or 0.101 EBq. During normal operation, the effective dose equivalent from coal plants is 100 times that from nuclear plants. Normal operation however,
4309-421: Is estimated to emit about 6 megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year. The results of similar estimations are mapped by organisations such as Global Energy Monitor , Carbon Tracker and ElectricityMap. Alternatively it may be possible to measure CO 2 emissions (perhaps indirectly via another gas) from satellite observations. Another problem related to coal combustion is the emission of particulates that have
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4448-480: Is governed by a five-person board and a general counsel , all of whom are appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate . Board members are appointed for five-year terms and the general counsel is appointed for a four-year term. The general counsel acts as a prosecutor and the board acts as an appellate quasi-judicial body from decisions of 36 administrative law judges , as of November 2023. The NLRB
4587-578: Is headquartered at 1015 Half St. SE, Washington, D.C. , and it has over 30 regional, sub-regional, and residential offices throughout the United States. The history of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can be traced to enactment of the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933. Section 7(a) of the act protected collective bargaining rights for unions, but was difficult to enforce. The NLRB
4726-660: Is referred to as a combined cycle power plant because it combines the Brayton cycle of the gas turbine with the Rankine cycle of the HRSG. The turbines are fueled either with natural gas or fuel oil. Diesel engine generator sets are often used for prime power in communities not connected to a widespread power grid. Emergency (standby) power systems may use reciprocating internal combustion engines operated by fuel oil or natural gas. Standby generators may serve as emergency power for
4865-464: Is still important as the fuel source for diesel engine power plants used especially in isolated communities not interconnected to a grid. Liquid fuels may also be used by gas turbine power plants, especially for peaking or emergency service. Of the three fossil fuel sources, oil has the advantages of easier transportation and handling than solid coal, and easier on-site storage than natural gas. Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration ,
5004-502: Is still unknown as to which kinds of particulate matter pose the most harm, which makes it difficult to come up with adequate legislation for regulating particulate matter. There are several methods of helping to reduce the particulate matter emissions from coal-fired plants. Roughly 80% of the ash falls into an ash hopper, but the rest of the ash then gets carried into the atmosphere to become coal-fly ash. Methods of reducing these emissions of particulate matter include: The baghouse has
5143-462: Is the " nameplate capacity " or the maximum allowed output of the plant, " capacity factor " or "load factor" is a measure of the amount of power that a plant produces compared with the amount it would produce if operated at its rated capacity nonstop, heat rate is thermal energy in/electrical energy out, emission intensity (also called emission factor ) is the CO 2 emitted per unit of heat generated for
5282-536: Is the use of a thermal power station to provide both electric power and heat (the latter being used, for example, for district heating purposes). This technology is practiced not only for domestic heating (low temperature) but also for industrial process heat, which is often high temperature heat. Calculations show that Combined Heat and Power District Heating (CHPDH) is the cheapest method in reducing (but not eliminating) carbon emissions, if conventional fossil fuels remain to be burned. Thermal power plants are one of
5421-433: Is then pumped into the boiler to repeat the cycle. Emissions from the boiler include carbon dioxide, oxides of sulfur, and in the case of coal fly ash from non-combustible substances in the fuel. Waste heat from the condenser is transferred either to the air, or sometimes to a cooling pond, lake or river. One type of fossil fuel power plant uses a gas turbine in conjunction with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). It
5560-465: Is what remains after the coal has been combusted, so it consists of the incombustible materials that are found in the coal. The size and chemical composition of these particles affects the impacts on human health. Currently coarse (diameter greater than 2.5 μm) and fine (diameter between 0.1 μm and 2.5 μm) particles are regulated, but ultrafine particles (diameter less than 0.1 μm) are currently unregulated, yet they pose many dangers. Unfortunately much
5699-470: The Carnot cycle limit for conversion of heat energy into useful work. Fuel cells do not have the same thermodynamic limits as they are not heat engines. The efficiency of a fossil fuel plant may be expressed as its heat rate , expressed in BTU/kilowatthour or megajoules/kilowatthour. In a steam turbine power plant, fuel is burned in a furnace and the hot gasses flow through a boiler. Water
Fisk Generating Station - Misplaced Pages Continue
5838-828: The European Environment Agency (EEA) documented fuel-dependent emission factors based on actual emissions from power plants in the European Union . Electricity generation using carbon-based fuels is responsible for a large fraction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions worldwide and for 34% of U.S. man-made carbon dioxide emissions in 2010. In the U.S. 70% of electricity is generated by combustion of fossil fuels. Coal contains more carbon than oil or natural gas fossil fuels, resulting in greater volumes of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity generated. In 2010, coal contributed about 81% of CO 2 emissions from generation and contributed about 45% of
5977-713: The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately hear its appeal from the Seventh Circuit's decision in New Process Steel, L.P. v. NLRB and settle the dispute, given the high stakes involved. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in October and agreed to decide the issue. Becker's nomination appeared to fail on February 8, 2010, after Republican Senators (led by John McCain ) threatened to filibuster his nomination. President Obama said he would consider making recess appointments to
6116-535: The National War Labor Board (NWLB), which displaced the NLRB as the main focus of federal labor relations for the duration of the war. The NWLB was given the authority to "finally determine" any labor dispute which threatened to interrupt war production, and to stabilize union wages and benefits during the war. Although Roosevelt instructed the NWLB not to intrude on jurisdiction exercised by the NLRB,
6255-558: The Senate Committee on Education and Labor established a Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor chaired by La Follette. Better known as the " La Follette Committee ", the subcommittee held extensive hearings for five years and published numerous reports. The committee uncovered extensive evidence of millions of company dollars used to pay for spies and fifth columnists within unions, exposed
6394-460: The fossil fuels contains carbon dioxide and water vapor, as well as pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO x ), sulfur oxides (SO x ), and, for coal-fired plants, mercury , traces of other metals, and fly ash . Usually all of the carbon dioxide and some of the other pollution is discharged to the air. Solid waste ash from coal-fired boilers must also be removed. Fossil fueled power stations are major emitters of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ),
6533-436: The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide within the atmosphere will "very likely" lead to higher average temperatures on a global scale ( global warming ). Concerns regarding the potential for such warming to change the global climate prompted IPCC recommendations calling for large cuts to CO 2 emissions worldwide. Emissions can be reduced with higher combustion temperatures, yielding more efficient production of electricity within
6672-416: The Board remanded the case to an administrative law judge to consider voiding the contract. In the meantime, Midwest Generation and IBEW Local 15 had successfully negotiated a successor collective bargaining agreement that replaced the contract from the 2001 negotiations. Chief Judge Giannasi oversaw extensive settlement talks that resulted in a global settlement of all issues related to the lockout, including
6811-684: The Board, opposition to leftist ideologies, a personal attack on the Chief Economist, David Saposs, and a mighty hostility to the administrative process. The loss of the Economic Division was a major blow to the NLRB. It had a major tactical impact: Economic data helped the NLRB fulfill its adjudicatorial and prosecutorial work in areas such as unfair labor practices (ULPs), representation elections, and in determining remedial actions (such as reinstatement, back pay awards, and fines). Economic data also undermined employer resistance to
6950-744: The CIO rather than the AFL), and American Can Co ., 13 NLRB 1252 (1939) (unit's history of collective bargaining outweighs desire of workers to form craft-only unit). The AFL began pushing for an investigation into the NLRB, and this investigation led to allegations of communist influence within the agency. In June 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee (led by Chairman Martin Dies Jr. [D- TX ]) heard testimony from AFL leader John P. Frey , who accused Madden of staffing
7089-716: The Court's Lochner era legal philosophy made it unlikely for the Court to uphold the Act. Subsequently, Madden strove to resolve minor cases before they could become court challenges, and worked to delay appeals as long as possible until the best possible case could be brought to the Court. This legal strategy paid off. The Supreme Court upheld the NLRA in National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation , 301 U.S. 1 (1937). Afterward, Madden continued to strategically guide
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#17327904702697228-530: The D.C. Circuit's decision in Noel Canning v. NLRB . Nancy Schiffer's term ended on December 15, 2014. She was succeeded by Lauren McFerran on December 16, 2014. Harry I. Johnson III's term ended on August 27, 2015. Graduate students' right to unionize: In August 2016, the NLRB ruled that graduate students who worked as teaching or research assistants at private universities had the right to unionize under federal labor law. Change in leadership: In 2017,
7367-544: The Economic Division undertook three important tasks: 1) Gather economic data in support of cases before the courts; 2) Conduct general studies of labor relations to guide the board in formulating decisions and policies; and 3) Research the history of labor relations (the history of written agreements, whether certain issues were historically part of collective bargaining, how unions functioned internally, trends in employer activities, trends in collective bargaining, whether certain employer actions led to labor disputes, etc.) so that
7506-518: The NLB and in Executive Order 6763 established a new, three-member National Labor Relations Board. Lloyd K. Garrison was the first chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (often referred to by scholars the "First NLRB" or "Old NLRB"). The "First NLRB" established organizational structures which continue at the NLRB in the 21st century. This includes the regional structure of the board;
7645-588: The NLRA to correct what critics saw as a pro-labor tilt in federal law. Drafted by the powerful Republican Senator Robert A. Taft and the strongly anti-union Representative Fred A. Hartley Jr. , the Taft–Hartley Act banned jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes , political strikes, secondary boycotts , secondary picketing, mass picketing, union campaign donations made from dues money, the closed shop , and unions of supervisors. The act also enumerated new employer rights, defined union-committed ULPs, gave states
7784-431: The NLRA, but privately he opposed the proposed Taft–Hartley amendments. He felt the communist oath provisions were unconstitutional, that the amendments would turn the NLRA into a management weapon, that creation of an independent general counsel would weaken the NLRB, and that the law's dismantling of the agency's economic analysis unit deprived the NLRB of essential expertise. Nonetheless, Congress overrode Truman's veto of
7923-612: The NLRA. President Roosevelt opposed the bill, although he conceded that perhaps the board's membership should be expanded to five from three. The Smith bill won several early tests in the House, which also voted to substantially cut the NLRB's budget. Smith won a vote in the House Rules Committee permitting him to bring his bill to the floor for a vote. In an attempt to defuse the legislative crisis, Madden fired 53 staff and forced another five to resign, and decentralized
8062-429: The NLRB dependent on Congress and the executive branch for its survival. Millis made a large number of organizational changes. He stripped the office of Secretary of its power, set up an Administrative Division to supervise the 22 regional offices, initiated a study of the board's administrative procedures, and genuinely delegated power to the regional offices. He removed casehandling and regional office communication from
8201-542: The NLRB due to the Senate's failure to move on any of the three nominations. On March 27, 2010, Obama recess appointed Becker and Pearce. On June 17, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in New Process Steel, L. P. v. NLRB that the two-member Board had no authority to issue decisions, invalidating all rulings made by Liebman and Schaumber. On June 22, 2010, a voice vote in the Senate confirmed Pearce to
8340-559: The NLRB with communists . The allegations were true, in at least one case: Nathan Witt , the NLRB's executive secretary and the man to whom Madden had delegated most administrative functions, was a member of the Communist Party of the United States . These allegations and discoveries significantly damaged the agency's support in Congress and with the public. A second investigation into the NLRB led to organizational changes at
8479-493: The NLRB's leadership shifted when President Donald Trump nominated and the Senate confirmed new members, changing the board's composition to a 3–2 Republican majority. Boeing decision: In 2018, the NLRB issued a decision in The Boeing Company case, which made it easier for employers to justify policies that restrict employees' rights to engage in protected concerted activity. Joint employer standard: In December 2017,
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#17327904702698618-507: The NLRB's legal efforts to strengthen the federal courts' view of the NLRA and the board's actions. Because of the efforts of Madden and NLRB General Counsel Charles H. Fahy, the Supreme Court reviewed only 27 cases between August 1935 and March 1941, even though the board had processed nearly 5,000 cases since its inception. The Supreme Court enforced the NLRB's rulings in 19 cases without modifying them, enforced them with modification in six more, and denied enforcement in two cases. Additionally,
8757-459: The NLRB's trial process to give regional directors and field agents more authority. But the House still passed the Smith bill by a vote of 258 to 129 on June 7, 1940. To protect the NLRB, Roosevelt convinced Senator Elbert D. Thomas , Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Labor , to hold no hearings or votes on the bill, and the legislation died. The Smith Committee investigation had
8896-588: The NLRB. The Smith committee's anti-communist drive also targeted David J. Saposs, the NLRB Chief Industrial Economist. Saposs had been surreptitiously assessed by members of the Communist Party USA for membership, and rejected as a prospect. But Smith and others attacked Saposs as a communist, and Congress defunded his division and his job on October 11, 1940. Although the Smith committee's investigation proved critical,
9035-577: The NLRB: Kent Hirozawa, Harry I. Johnson III, Philip A. Miscimarra , Mark Gaston Pearce and Nancy Schiffer. Johnson and Miscimarra represented the Republican nominees for the board. Pearce was confirmed for a second five-year term. On June 26, 2014, in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning , the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Obama's recess appointments to the NLRB in 2013 were unconstitutional, affirming
9174-491: The National Labor Relations Board as the implementing agency. The first chairman of the "new" NLRB was J. Warren Madden , professor of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law . Madden largely confirmed the previous structure of the "first NLRB" by formally establishing five divisions within the agency: Benedict Wolf served as first Secretary of the NLRB, Charles H. Fahy the first general counsel, and David J. Saposs
9313-571: The New York State Department of Labor), and Brian Hayes (Republican Labor Policy Director for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ) to fill the three empty seats on the NLRB. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First , Second , and Seventh Circuits upheld the two-member NLRB's authority to decide cases, while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected its authority. In September 2009,
9452-682: The Senate, and the President moved to fill them during the same recess. On May 16, 2013, in National Labor Relations Board v. New Vista Nursing and Rehabilitation , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit became the second federal appellate court to rule that the recess appointments to the NLRB were unconstitutional. In a split decision, it also found that the March 27, 2010, recess appointment of Craig Becker
9591-518: The Supreme Court held 5-to-4 that the anti-communist oath was a bill of attainder in United States v. Brown , 381 U.S. 437 (1965). The Supreme Court essentially overturned Douds , but did not formally do so. In 1949, the NLRB instated the Joy Silk doctrine, which held that "if a union provides evidence that a majority of workers want to unionize", the employer should recognize
9730-478: The Taft–Hartley Act on June 23, 1947, and the bill became law. The Taft–Hartley Act fundamentally changed the nature of federal labor law, but it also seriously hindered the NLRB's ability to enforce the law. The loss of the mediation function left the NLRB unable to become involved in labor disputes, a function it had engaged in since its inception as the National Labor Board in 1933. This hindered
9869-401: The U.S., but that goal had to be abandoned. Most importantly, however, the evisceration of the Economic Division struck at the fundamental purpose of federal labor law, which was to allow experts to adjudicate labor disputes rather than use a legal process. With this data and analysis, widespread skepticism about the board's expertise quickly spread through Congress and the courts. It also left
10008-518: The United States. Per unit of electric energy, brown coal emits nearly twice as much CO 2 as natural gas, and black coal emits somewhat less than brown. As of 2019 , carbon capture and storage of emissions is not economically viable for fossil fuel power stations, and keeping global warming below 1.5 °C is still possible but only if no more fossil fuel power plants are built and some existing fossil fuel power plants are shut down early, together with other measures such as reforestation . In
10147-748: The War Labor Board refused to honor this request. From 1942 to 1945, Millis tried to secure a jurisdictional agreement with NWLB Chairman George W. Taylor. But these discussions proved fruitless, and Millis broke them off in June 1945. The NWLB also heavily raided the NLRB for staff, significantly hindering NLRB operations. Additional changes came with the passage of the War Labor Disputes Act (WLDA) on June 25, 1943. Enacted over Roosevelt's veto after 400,000 coal miners, their wages significantly lower due to high wartime inflation, struck for
10286-423: The agency by linking that opposition to employer ULPs. The loss also left the board dependent on the biased information offered by the parties in dispute before it, leading to poor decision-making and far less success in the courts. It also had a major strategic impact: It left the board unable to determine whether its administration of the law was effective or not. Nor could the board determine whether labor unrest
10425-401: The agency's efforts to study, analyze, and create bulwarks against bad-faith collective bargaining ; reduced its ability to formulate national labor policy in this area; and left the agency making labor law on an ineffective, time-consuming case-by-case basis. The separation of the general counsel from supervision by the national board also had significant impact on the agency. This separation
10564-566: The appointments were made when the Senate was "demonstrably not in recess", they represented "a constitutional abuse of a high order." On January 12, 2012, the U.S. Justice Department released a memo stating that appointments made during pro forma sessions are supported by the Constitution and precedent. On January 25, 2013, in Noel Canning v. NLRB , a panel of the D.C. Circuit ruled that President Obama's recess appointments were invalid as they were not made during an intersession recess of
10703-439: The board and Senate Democrats refused to confirm those which he did make. On December 28, 2007, just before the board lost its quorum, the four members agreed to delegate their authority to a three-person panel per the National Labor Relations Act . Only Liebman and Schaumber remained on the board, but the board concluded that the two constituted a quorum of the three-person panel and thus could make decisions on behalf of
10842-555: The board could educate itself, the courts, Congress, and the public about labor relations. The first function proved critical to the survival of the NLRB. It was the Economic Division's data and analysis, more than then NLRB's legal reasoning, which proved critical in persuading the Supreme Court to sustain the Wagner Act in NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel . The Court even cited several Economic Division studies in its decision. In
10981-456: The board largely unable to engage in rulemaking , forcing it to make labor law on an inefficient, time-consuming case-by-case basis. As of 1981, NLRB was still the only federal agency forbidden to seek economic information about the impact of its activities. The second chairman of the NLRB, Harry A. Millis , led the board in a much more moderate direction. Lacking an economic division to give it ammunition to fight with Millis deliberately made
11120-586: The board to adjudicate their claims. The 1935 Wagner Act had protected non-profit hospital workers, but the Taft–Hartley Act removed those protections in 1947. Congress had expressed concern about the impact of potential labor strikes on patient care, but decided that the proposed legislation was an appropriate compromise. In July 1987, the board began work on a comprehensive regulation for collective-bargaining units in health care organizations. The board held 14 days of hearings and considered testimony from 144 witnesses and over 1,800 public comments, and finally issued
11259-524: The board won all 30 injunction and all 16 representation cases before the lower courts, a rate of success unequalled by any other federal agency. AFL opposition to the "Madden Board" grew after decisions in Shipowners' Ass'n of the Pacific Coast , 7 NLRB 1002 (1938), enf'd American Federation of Labor v. National Labor Relations Board , 308 U.S. 401 (1940) (awarding a longshoremen's unit to
11398-577: The board's jurisdiction. Several federal court decisions further limited the board's power. Senator Robert F. Wagner ( D – NY ) subsequently pushed legislation through Congress to give a statutory basis to federal labor policy that survived court scrutiny. On July 5, 1935, a new law—the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, also known as the Wagner Act)—superseded the NIRA and established a new, long-lasting federal labor policy. The NLRA designated
11537-604: The board. Liebman and Schaumber informally agreed to decide only those cases which were in their view noncontroversial and on which they could agree, and issued almost 400 decisions between January 2008 and September 2009. In April 2009, President Obama nominated Craig Becker (associate general counsel of the Service Employees International Union ), Mark Gaston Pearce (a member on the Industrial Board of Appeals, an agency of
11676-560: The board. On July 20, 1939, Republicans and conservative Democrats formed a coalition to push through the House of Representatives a resolution establishing a Special Committee to Investigate the National Labor Relations Board (the " Smith Committee "), chaired by conservative, anti-labor Rep. Howard W. Smith (D- VA ). On March 7, 1940, the Smith Committee proposed legislation to abolish the NLRB, reconstitute it, and radically amend
11815-478: The board." In August 1947, he supported an "Anti-Red Affidavit Rule" and so sided with US Senator Robert A. Taft. In October 1947, the NLRB overruled him, which meant that top officers of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) would not have to sign an anti-Communist oath per the Taft–Hartley Act. Herzog publicly admitted the need for some change in
11954-674: The board: Sharon Block , Terence F. Flynn, and Richard Griffin. The appointments were criticized by Republicans, including the House Speaker John Boehner , as unconstitutional and "a brazen attempt to undercut the role of the Senate to advise and consent the executive branch on appointments." Although made as recess appointments, critics questioned their legality, arguing that Congress had not officially been in recess as pro forma sessions had been held. Former U.S. attorney general Edwin Meese stated that in his opinion, since
12093-437: The cases most favorable to the board made it to the courts. The centralized structure meant that only the strongest cases made it to national board, so that the board could apply all its economic and legal powers to crafting the best decision possible. This strategy enabled the NLRB to defend itself very well before the Supreme Court. But Madden and Witt had held on to the centralized strategy too long, and made political enemies in
12232-537: The chair. The regional boards could hold hearings and propose settlements to disputes. Initially, they lacked authority to order representation elections, but this changed after Roosevelt issued additional executive orders on February 1 and February 23, 1934. The NLB, too, proved ineffective. Congress passed Public Resolution No. 44 on June 19, 1934, which empowered the president to appoint a new labor board with authority to issue subpoenas, hold elections, and mediate labor disputes. On June 29, President Roosevelt abolished
12371-487: The committee used was provided by the Economic Division, and the investigation proved critical for a time in defending the agency from business and congressional attack. The biggest issue the NLRB faced was constitutional. The Justice Department and NLRB legal staff wanted the Supreme Court to rule as quickly as possible on the constitutionality of the NLRA. But the board and Justice Department also realized that
12510-643: The court in American Communications Ass'n v. Douds , 339 U.S. 382 (1950), in which the court held 5-to-1 that the oath did not violate the First Amendment , was not an ex post facto law or bill of attainder in violation of Article One, Section 10 , and was not a "test oath" in violation of Article Six . The issue again came before the court in Garner v. Board of Public Works , 341 U.S. 716 (1951), in which
12649-529: The court unanimously held that a municipal loyalty oath was not an ex post facto law or bill of attainder. It came before the court yet a third time in Wieman v. Updegraff , 344 U.S. 183 (1952). This time, the outcome was radically different. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state loyalty oath legislation violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . In 1965,
12788-596: The courts. During his time on the NLRB, Madden was often opposed by the American Federation of Labor (AFL), which believed that Madden was using the NLRA and the procedures and staff of the NLRB to favor the AFL's primary competitor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The NLRB and NLRA were also under intense pressure from employers, the press, congressional Republicans , and conservative Democrats . The NLRB's Economic Division proved critical in pushing for
12927-471: The culpability of local law enforcement in acts of violence and murder against union supporters (particularly in the Harlan County War ), revealed the wide extent of illegal blacklisting of union members, and exposed the use of armed strikebreakers and widespread stockpiling of tear gas, vomit gas, machine guns, mortars, and armor by corporations to use against strikers . Some of the evidence
13066-423: The cycle. As of 2019 the price of emitting CO 2 to the atmosphere is much lower than the cost of adding carbon capture and storage (CCS) to fossil fuel power stations, so owners have not done so. The CO 2 emissions from a fossil fuel power station can be estimated with the following formula: CO 2 emissions = capacity x capacity factor x heat rate x emission intensity x time where "capacity"
13205-459: The disestablishment of the Economic Division was due to many reasons—both internal and external to the NLRB, and only some of which involved allegations of communist infiltration. As historian James A. Gross observed:. The Division was eliminated for all kinds of reasons which had nothing to do with the merits and importance of its work: political pressures and maneuverings, jealousy and empire building between and among lawyers and economists inside
13344-510: The electricity generated in the United States. In 2000, the carbon intensity (CO 2 emissions) of U.S. coal thermal combustion was 2249 lbs/MWh (1,029 kg/MWh) while the carbon intensity of U.S. oil thermal generation was 1672 lb/MWh (758 kg/MWh or 211 kg/ GJ ) and the carbon intensity of U.S. natural gas thermal production was 1135 lb/MWh (515 kg/MWh or 143 kg/GJ). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) reports that increased quantities of
13483-550: The establishment of the National Labor Board , under the auspices of the NRA, to implement the collective bargaining provisions of Section 7(a). The National Labor Board (NLB) established a system of 20 regional boards to handle the immense caseload. Each regional board had a representative designated by local labor unions, local employers, and a "public" representative. All were unpaid. The public representative acted as
13622-548: The first Chief Industrial Economist. Wolf resigned in mid-1937, and Nathan Witt , an attorney in the Legal Division, was named Secretary in October. The Economic Division was a critical one for the NLRB. Cause-and-effect was one of the fundamental assumptions of the National Labor Relations Act, and for the causes of labor unrest to be understood economic analysis was needed. From the start,
13761-431: The first central stations used reciprocating steam engines to drive generators. As the size of the electrical load to be served grew, reciprocating units became too large and cumbersome to install economically. The steam turbine rapidly displaced all reciprocating engines in central station service. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel on the planet, and widely used as the source of energy in thermal power stations and
13900-573: The fuel system maintenance requirements. Spark-ignition internal combustion engines operating on gasoline (petrol), propane , or LPG are commonly used as portable temporary power sources for construction work, emergency power, or recreational uses. Reciprocating external combustion engines such as the Stirling engine can be run on a variety of fossil fuels, as well as renewable fuels or industrial waste heat. Installations of Stirling engines for power production are relatively uncommon. Historically,
14039-536: The general counsel limited powers to seek injunctions without referring to the Justice Department. It also banned the NLRB from engaging in any mediation or conciliation, and formally enshrined in law the ban on hiring personnel to do economic data collection or analysis. In August 1947, Robert N. Denham became the NLRB's general counsel . He held "conservative views" and wielded "considerable influence" on labor-management relations and interpretations of
14178-486: The general counsel was not discussed by the committee or by any witnesses during the legislation's mark-up. Indeed, there was no basis for it at all in the public record. It was, in the words of sociologist Robin Stryker, "little-noted" and "unprecedented". The anti-communist oath provisions generated extensive public debate, and generated disputes before the Supreme Court several times. The Taft–Hartley oath first reached
14317-426: The guys were hurting financially, that's why we voted to go back to work," said Tom O'Reilly, Ass't Business Manager for Local 15. "We have no intention of agreeing with the company's current proposal." Midwest rejected that offer and locked out all of its workers who honored the picket line at the time IBEW Local 15 made the offer to return. Faced with a lockout, the union accepted Midwest Generation's contract offer and
14456-460: The hot exhaust gases from the gas turbines are used to generate steam to power a steam turbine. The pollution levels of such plants are drastically lower than those of "classic" coal power plants. Particulate matter from coal-fired plants can be harmful and have negative health impacts. Studies have shown that exposure to particulate matter is related to an increase of respiratory and cardiac mortality. Particulate matter can irritate small airways in
14595-457: The impasse over NLRB appointees. Obama withdrew the pending nominations of Block and Griffin, and submit two new nominees: Nancy Schiffer, associate general counsel at the AFL-CIO, and Kent Hirozawa, chief counsel to NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce. Republicans agreed not to oppose a fourth nominee, to be submitted in 2014. On July 30, 2013, the Senate confirmed all five of Obama's nominees for
14734-510: The jurisdiction of the Office of the Secretary and created a Field Division. He also adopted procedures requiring the board made its decisions based solely on the trial examiner's report, authorized NLRB review attorneys to review trial examiner report, required decisions to be drafted ahead of time and distributed for review, authorized review attorneys to revise drafts before a final decision
14873-489: The locked-out employees returned to work nearly seven weeks later under the terms of a new agreement which was less favorable to employees. Immediately after the company instituted the lockout, IBEW Local 15 filed an unfair labor practice charge with Region 13 claiming that the lockout was unlawful. The case was submitted to the NLRB's Division of Advice and in March 2002, the Regional Director for Region 13 issued
15012-428: The lungs, which can lead to increased problems with asthma, chronic bronchitis, airway obstruction, and gas exchange. There are different types of particulate matter, depending on the chemical composition and size. The dominant form of particulate matter from coal-fired plants is coal fly ash , but secondary sulfate and nitrate also comprise a major portion of the particulate matter from coal-fired plants. Coal fly ash
15151-479: The main artificial sources of producing toxic gases and particulate matter . Fossil fuel power plants cause the emission of pollutants such as NO x , SO x , CO 2 , CO, PM, organic gases and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. World organizations and international agencies, like the IEA, are concerned about the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels , and coal in particular. The combustion of coal contributes
15290-488: The most to acid rain and air pollution , and has been connected with global warming . Due to the chemical composition of coal there are difficulties in removing impurities from the solid fuel prior to its combustion. Modern day coal power plants pollute less than older designs due to new " scrubber " technologies that filter the exhaust air in smoke stacks. However, emission levels of various pollutants are still on average several times greater than natural gas power plants and
15429-466: The need to retrofit its coal-fired facilities to comply with environmental regulations. Fisk Station was among the plants named in a 2002 Harvard School of Public Health study which found communities near these older coal power plants showed significant health risks such as increased mortality and asthma rates. Midwest Generation's Crawford Generating Station in the Little Village neighborhood
15568-539: The newly passed Taft–Hartley Act. In 1950, US President Harry S. Truman fired Denham ( New York Times : "left at the behest of the President"). While NLRB general counsel, Denham received considerable news coverage as a "quasi-Republican". Nominated by President Truman, Denham received unanimous approval by the US Senate Labor Committee. He received "full and independent powers to investigate violations, file complaints and prosecute offenders before
15707-614: The particular wastestream in the plant. These include dry ash handling, closed-loop ash recycling, chemical precipitation, biological treatment (such as an activated sludge process), membrane systems, and evaporation-crystallization systems. In 2015 EPA published a regulation pursuant to the Clean Water Act that requires US power plants to use one or more of these technologies. Technological advancements in ion exchange membranes and electrodialysis systems has enabled high efficiency treatment of flue-gas desulfurization wastewater to meet
15846-928: The potential contract voiding issue. The parties worked cooperatively to calculate the losses that employees suffered as a direct result of the lockout. In November 2008, the parties agreed upon approximately $ 16 million in backpay and other damages, including 401(k)and other reimbursable losses. Fisk Station ceased operations in August 2012, due to competition from natural gas-fired power and environmental regulations that were soon to take effect. On December 17, 2012, Edison Mission Energy – parent company of Midwest Generation, and operator of numerous power plants in Illinois and other states – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it had been challenged by depressed energy prices and high fuel costs affecting its coal-fired plants, combined with pending debt maturities and
15985-507: The process. Millis substituted a decentralized process in which the board was less a decision-maker and more a provider of services to the regions. Many of the changes Millis instituted were designed to mimic requirements placed on other agencies by the Administrative Procedure Act . American entry into World War II on December 8, 1941, significantly changed the NLRB. On January 12, 1942, President Roosevelt created
16124-477: The reciprocating units, were one-tenth the weight, and required less maintenance. The turbine proved to be an engineering wonder since its blades were the first man-made devices to move faster than the speed of sound. It made electricity more available, more reliable and cheaper. The original 5 MW turbine (1903) was returned to the Schenectady, New York headquarters of General Electric, "where it stands today as
16263-463: The referendums to whip up pro-strike feelings among their members. Millis also believed the law's strike vote process permitted more strikes to occur than the NLRB would have allowed under its old procedures. There were so many strike vote filings in the six months after the war ended that NLRB actually shut down its long-distance telephone lines, cancelled all out of town travel, suspended all public hearings, and suspended all other business to accommodate
16402-417: The remedy, the Seventh Circuit directed the Board to consider whether the lockout coerced the employees into accepting the contract offer, thereby voiding the agreement. In 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear Midwest Generation's appeal. In March 2008, the Board accepted the Seventh Circuit's remand and ordered that the employees who were locked out be made whole for the period of the lockout. In addition,
16541-401: The right to opt out of federal labor law through right-to-work laws , required unions to give an 80-days' strike notice in all cases, established procedures for the president to end a strike in a national emergency, and required all union officials to sign an anti-Communist oath. Organizationally, the act made the general counsel a presidential appointee, independent of the board itself, and gave
16680-629: The rule in April 1989. The rule was challenged in court and ultimately reached the Supreme Court, which unanimously upheld the rule in April 1991. From December 2007 to mid-July 2013, the agency never had all five members, and not once did it operate with three confirmed members, creating a legal controversy. Three members' terms expired in December 2007, leaving the NLRB with just two members—Chairman Wilma B. Liebman and Member Peter Schaumber. President George W. Bush refused to make some nominations to
16819-530: The scrubbers transfer the captured pollutants to wastewater, which still requires treatment in order to avoid pollution of receiving water bodies. In these modern designs, pollution from coal-fired power plants comes from the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides , and sulfur dioxide into the air, as well a significant volume of wastewater which may contain lead , mercury , cadmium and chromium , as well as arsenic , selenium and nitrogen compounds ( nitrates and nitrites ). Acid rain
16958-490: The union unless they have "good faith doubt" regarding that evidence. Further, "if there's an unfair labor practice, meaning the employer broke the law, then it is presumed that the workers wanted to join a union". The doctrine was replaced by the Gissel doctrine in 1969 following NLRB v. Gissel Packing Co., Inc. In 1974, Congress amended the National Labor Relations Act to protect employees of non-profit hospitals and allow
17097-583: The updated EPA discharge limits. Coal is a sedimentary rock formed primarily from accumulated plant matter, and it includes many inorganic minerals and elements which were deposited along with organic material during its formation. As the rest of the Earth's crust , coal also contains low levels of uranium , thorium , and other naturally occurring radioactive isotopes whose release into the environment leads to radioactive contamination . While these substances are present as very small trace impurities, enough coal
17236-498: The use of administrative law judges and regional hearing officers to initially rule on cases; an appeal process to the national board; and the use of expert staff, organized into various divisions, at the national level. Formally, Garrison established the: Within a year, however, most of the jurisdiction of the "First NLRB" was stripped away. Its decisions in the automobile, newspaper, textile, and steel industries proved so volatile that Roosevelt himself often removed these cases from
17375-407: The vertical units. The horizontal orientation allowed the station foundations to support larger, faster spinning turbines. Electrical World , a trade magazine, waxed eloquently in 1908 on the plant's long standing significance: "No article can do justice to the care and thought bestowed on it, or to the completeness and beauty of the whole. It is a great cathedral, devoted to the religion of power, and
17514-403: The wake of Jones & Laughlin Steel , many labor relations experts outside the agency concluded that economic analysis was "an accepted fact" essential to the proper functioning of the agency. The Economic Division did, too. It asked Madden to pair an economist with an attorney in every important case, and prepared outline of the economic data needed to support each case in case it went before
17653-422: The workload. By early 1945, Millis was in ill health. He resigned from the NLRB on June 7, 1945, and Paul M. Herzog was named his successor. A major turning point in the history of the NLRB came in 1947 with passage of the Taft–Hartley Act . Disruptions caused by strikes during World War II as well as the huge wave of strikes that followed the end of the war fueled a growing movement in 1946 and 1947 to amend
17792-438: The world use fossil fuel, outnumbering nuclear , geothermal , biomass , or concentrated solar power plants. The second law of thermodynamics states that any closed-loop cycle can only convert a fraction of the heat produced during combustion into mechanical work . The rest of the heat, called waste heat , must be released into a cooler environment during the return portion of the cycle. The fraction of heat released into
17931-484: The world. Some fossil-fired power stations are designed for continuous operation as baseload power plants , while others are used as peaker plants . However, starting from the 2010s, in many countries plants designed for baseload supply are being operated as dispatchable generation to balance increasing generation by variable renewable energy . By-products of fossil fuel power plant operation must be considered in their design and operation. Flue gas from combustion of
18070-423: Was 28 petawatt-hours . A fossil fuel power station is a thermal power station which burns a fossil fuel , such as coal , oil , or natural gas , to produce electricity . Fossil fuel power stations have machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy , which then operates an electrical generator . The prime mover may be a steam turbine , a gas turbine or, in small plants,
18209-522: Was a serious threat to the economy or not. As labor historian Josiah Bartlett Lambert put it: "Without the Economic Research Division, the NLRB could not undertake empirical studies to determine the actual impact of secondary boycotts , jurisdictional strikes , national emergency strikes, and the like." The Economic Division was critical to a long-range NLRB process to lead to the long-term evolution of industrial labor relations in
18348-460: Was also named in the study. Both plants were marked for closure. The IBEW Local Union 15 Workers Memorial lists at least six workers who died as a result of workplace accidents at Fisk Station: On November 21, 1976 41-year-old Chicago firefighter Walter Watroba lost his life after being pinned for seven hours by a fallen coal chute. Watroba died shortly after his leg was amputated in order to extricate him. Three hundred firefighters had responded to
18487-686: Was an 11,000 horsepower - 5000 kilowatt (or 5 million watt abbreviated 5 MW) steam turbo-generator built by the General Electric Company, whose Chairman Charles A. Coffin initially balked at the size requested by Insull. It was far larger than any other steam turbine built up to that date, the next biggest being a 1,500 kilowatt Westinghouse unit installed by the Hartford Electric Light Company around 1900. General Electric had manufactured some 600 kilowatt turbine units by that time. Insull and Coffin reached
18626-482: Was built by the predecessor to Commonwealth Edison , Chicago Edison Company, whose Chairman was Samuel Insull and Chief Engineer was Frederick Sargent. The older Harrison Street Station, built on the west bank of the Chicago River with reciprocating engines and condensing units capable of 16,200 kilowatts, was overloaded less than six years after the station went into service in 1894. Fisk's original Unit 1
18765-495: Was enacted against the advice of the Justice Department, contradicted the policy Congress had enacted in the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, and ignored Millis' extensive internal reforms. The change left the NLRB as the only federal agency unable to coordinate its decision-making and legal activities, and the only agency exempted in this manner under the Administrative Procedure Act. The separation of
18904-455: Was found in the late 20th century or early 21st century, such as the US and UK. Sometimes coal-fired steam plants are refitted to use natural gas to reduce net carbon dioxide emissions. Oil-fuelled plants may be converted to natural gas to lower operating cost. Heavy fuel oil was once a significant source of energy for electric power generation. After oil price increases of the 1970s, oil was displaced by coal and later natural gas. Distillate oil
19043-466: Was issued, required trial examiners to emphasize findings of fact and to address points of law, and began holding board meetings when there were differences of opinion over decisions. Millis eliminated the Review Division's decisive role in cases, which had been established under Madden and Witt. Madden and Witt had adopted a highly centralized board structure so that (generally speaking) only
19182-575: Was not given monitoring powers. A massive wave of union organizing was punctuated by employer and union violence , general strikes , and recognition strikes . The National Industrial Recovery Act was administered by the National Recovery Administration (NRA). At the outset, NRA Administrator Hugh S. Johnson believed that Section 7(a) would be self-enforcing, but the tremendous labor unrest proved him wrong. On August 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced
19321-440: Was unconstitutional. On July 14, 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threatened to exercise the " nuclear option " and allow a simple majority (rather than a supermajority ) of the Senate to end a filibuster . This threat to end the filibuster's privileged position in the Senate was intended to end Republican filibustering of NLRB nominees. On July 16, 2013, President Obama and Senate Republicans reached an agreement to end
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