From above, the Creature takes the shape of a spider: Its eyes are smokestacks, its legs spindly railways stretching from the semicircle of clearcut pines into the East Texas woods beyond. Given its proximity to Martin Creek Lake—a popular fishing and boating spot just south of it—the Creature might as well have skittered ashore ages ago, plopping down on the first stretch of dry land it found: the town of Tatum, population 1,400, located less than an hour from the Louisiana border. The Creature (formally known as the Martin Lake Steam Electric Station) came here in 1978 and has reliably chewed lignite and belched acrid smoke ever since. The coal-fired power plant is also a reliable polluter, releasing 25,400 tons of sulfur dioxide into the air each year, more than any other coal plant in the United States.
Environmental activists have been after the plant for years, with movement on the matter as recently as last month, when the Sierra Club said it would file a new lawsuit over the plant’s pollution.
The sulfur dioxide and particulate matter expelled by the Creature can cause swollen lungs and acute breathing problems. Each year, 100 premature deaths are linked to the facility; it costs $1 billion in public health expenses annually, according to a health report submitted by the Sierra Club to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Beneath the soil, the plant’s toxic ash lagoons have leaked boron, cobalt, and manganese into groundwater sources.
