|
Home
History
Environmental Threat
Site Characterization
Plant Wastes
Contamination Threat Modes
Residuals - Components
Sources of MGP Liquid Effluent
FMG Plants in the US
Parallel MG Technologies
Think you've found a gas works?
Locating & Confirming a Site
Locations of US Gas Plants
FMGP In The News
FMGP In The Arts
Coal-tar Site Litigation
Related sites on the Internet
Literature of Manufactured Gas
Publications by Dr. Hatheway
Slide Show Archive
Hatheway Bio
Hatheway Resume
| |
Former Manufactured Gas Plants in the United States
Comprehensive records of the numbers and actual location of former manufactured
gas plants of this country do not exist. The author keeps an expanding tally based
on his discoveries of such sites in the vast literature of manufactured gas. The known
and estimated numbers of these plant sites in major cities are presented below, current through
March 2008.
|
Estimated Numbers of Former Manufactured Gas Plants
& Other Coal Tar Sites of the United States
|
|
Category
of Site
|
Number
|
Remarks
|
|
Brown’s Directory of North American Gas
Plants (From 1887)
|
1500
|
Based on a 1985 USEPA contract snapshot assessment of numbers as
reported and differentiated as single plants, in ten-year, even-decade
tallies.
|
|
FMGP’s not reported to Brown’s Directory
(From 1887)
|
1000
|
Non-detection by virtue of non-membership in gas
associations or non-participation in voluntary reporting to publishers
of the directory.
Non-reporting of multiple or replacement plants by
some gas-making entities.
Not detected by the level-of-effort USEPA
survey (1985) of Brown’s Directory by the decade only.
|
|
District Gas Holders built as below-ground
components (to about 1910)
|
500
|
Common to larger cities with distribution holders and gas compressors used to extend the radius of distribution
beyond the original area. Below-grade holders subject to out-leakage of
residual tars accumulated from purified gas.
|
|
Pintsch plants at rail yards (1873-1960)
|
100-150
|
Produced compressed illuminating gas for use in all
manner of human-occupied rail cars; not reported in any single journal
or listing.
|
|
Gas plants at military posts, yards and stations
(1849-1945) Gas plants and gas producers at arsenals and munitions plants
|
100-150
50-100
|
Virtually any post in operation prior to 1910; as a
result of general isolation from commercial sources, particularly of the
WW I era.
|
|
Institutional gas machines (1850-1950)
|
5000-10000
|
Hotels, resorts, hospitals, colleges and schools,
estates and mansions, and asylums.
|
|
Kerosene refiners (from soft coal);1850-1870
|
100-150
|
Distilled lamp oil from boghead coal; mainly
located in New England and generally operating with Scottish coal or oil
shale.
|
|
Domestic/Residential gas machines (1890-1950)
|
10000-
15000
|
Large homes, mansions and country estates; Examples
are the intact mansions of railroad magnates James J. Hill (Minneapolis) and Edward Harriman (Arden
Estate, rural New York).
|
|
Gas producer plants (1880-1950)
|
11000-
15000
|
Fuel supply units for industrial plants
incorporating furnaces or kilns; factories, smelters, iron and steel
plants, brick, terra cotta and cement plants.
|
|
Bottled manufactured gas plants (1912-1940
|
100
|
Manufactured oil-enriched water gas or solvent-vapor
gas; Compressed to liquid state into small, portable cylinders.
|
|
Compressed fuel briquette plants (1910-1940)
|
100
|
Blended and fine-crushed anthracite and bituminous
coal; also coke breeze roasted to recover gas and tar residuals; then bound by-product
tar and
compressed into 2X2-inch briquettes.
|
|
Beehive coke works (1800-1930)
|
2000-4000
|
Produced coke without recovery of by-products.
|
|
Merchant and utility coke works (1890-1996)
|
250-300
|
Produced coal gas and coke with recovery of coal-tar
by-products.
|
|
Tar distilleries (1900-1960)
|
200-400
|
Converted gasworks tar residues to industrial chemicals and
useful by-products.
|
|
Wood preservation plants
|
800-1000
|
Pressure and non-pressure impregnation of timber
with dominantly coal-tar products, mainly creosote. Many lumber yards
also participated.
|
|
U.S. Bureau of Mines (1947-1990)
|
5-15
|
Coal gasification pilot plants operating in study
of WW II German technologies (1938-1945)
|
|
U.S. Department of Energy and predecessors
(1970-1985)
|
63-75
|
Coal & oil shale gasification and synthetic
fuel coal-gasification pilot projects; widespread in many States;
operations generally lacked acceptable management of tar residuals.
|
|
Totals
|
32,860 -
50,108
|
Individual sites at which substantial amounts of
coal-tar residuals can be expected to been countered.
|
|
Relative Numbers of Former
Manufactured Gas Plants
in Major American Cities
|
|
City
|
FMGPs
|
Other
Coal-Tar Sites
|
Special
Situations
|
|
Atlanta
|
9
|
Estimated 50
|
Atlanta Gas Light Company name has been retained
through several holding-company changes in ownership. Along with the
Washington (D.C.) Gas Light Co. and Peoples Gas Light & Coke Co.
(Chicago), believed unique in
the U.S. for this particular situation of name retention.
|
|
Baltimore
|
44
|
Estimated 200
|
Gas holders of Baltimore were largely demolished, from 1996 through
2000.
|
|
Boston
|
52
|
Estimated 100
|
Pre-1911: Consolidated by Boston Consolidated Gas
Co.; now Boston Gas Company.
|
|
Chicago
|
116
|
Estimated 400
|
1897-1898: Consolidation begun by Peoples Gas Light
& Coke Co., and completed in 1907, with ownership control held
by Samuel Insull.
|
|
Denver
|
30
|
Estimated 35
|
1891: Consolidated by Denver Consolidated Gas
Co.1893: reconsolidated by Denver Gas & Electric Co.1910:
reconsolidated by Henry L. Doherty as Pubic Service Co. of Colorado
|
|
Detroit
|
50
|
Estimated 350
|
Unknown date: Consolidated by Detroit City Gas
Co., a private utility; later American Light & Traction Company.
|
|
Kansas City, MO
|
13
|
Estimated 50
|
Ca. 1895: Consolidated by UGI, Philadelphia; then
Cities Service Co., ca. 1912.
|
|
Kansas City, KS
|
9
|
Estimated 20
|
Single-firm monopoly; Various owners; Eventually
Cities Service Co.
|
|
Long Beach, CA
|
9
|
Estimated 20
|
1895: Colonized by UGI, of Philadelphia, PA
1914:
Consolidated by Southern Counties Gas Co.
ca. 1925: municipal take-over
of gas services.
|
|
Los Angeles, CA
|
32
|
Estimated 50
|
Eventual takeover by UGI spin-off Pacific Gas
Improvement Co., formed in 1882; grew Into today’s Pacific
Enterprises.
|
|
New Orleans, LA
|
16
|
Estimated 30
|
|
|
New York City
|
99
|
Approximately 1000 throughout the five boroughs
|
1884: Partial consolidation of 7 gas companies into
Consolidated Gas Co. 1891: Gas war between the 16 companies in
place post-1891: continued consolidation1936: consolidation into
Consolidated Edison Co. of New York City.
|
|
Brooklyn
|
30
|
|
Oakland, CA
|
6
|
Undetermined
|
1905: consolidated by Pacific Gas & Electric
Co.
|
|
Philadelphia City and its near Suburbs
|
17
|
Many more than 7
|
First gas plant (1834) a municipal venture; plagued for
decades by scandal; City contracts with UGI for long term operation, urban and suburban systems strong and operated apart but all owned,
after 1882 by UGI, operating with J.P. Morgan financing.
|
|
Phoenix, AZ
|
3
|
Undetermined
|
1882: originated by UGI; passed to Pacific Gas
Improvement Co., then to PG&E.
1920: Arizona Public Service Company
formed.
|
|
Pittsburgh, PA
|
9
|
Many more than 9
|
Topographic irregularity of terrain suggests
original need for relatively greater number of gas plants.
|
|
Portland, OR
|
15
|
More than 3
|
Never any competition; growth of original 1852 firm,
Portland Gas Light & Coke Co.; owned by EBASCO
|
|
Providence, RI
|
5
|
Undetermined
|
Remained in perpetual control by Providence Gas Co.
|
|
St. Louis, MO
|
54
|
26 known; 150 expected
|
1890: Consolidated by Laclede Gas Light Co., third
historic gas company of the City, with 1909 control by Samuel Insull
interests of Chicago.
|
|
Sacramento, CA
|
7
|
Undetermined
|
1912: Consolidated by Pacific Gas & Electric
Co.
|
|
Salt Lake City, UT
|
5
|
More than 6
|
1920s: Consolidated by Utah Power & Light Co.
|
|
San Antonio, TX
|
2
|
More than 2
|
ca. 1894: Municipal take-over.
|
|
San Diego, CA
|
Unknown
|
Undetermined
|
Pre-1906: Consolidated by H.M. Byllesby & Co.,
of Chicago.
|
|
San Francisco, CA
|
31
|
Undetermined
|
ca. 1912: Consolidated by Pacific Gas &
Electric Co.
|
|
San Jose, CA
|
5
|
Undetermined
|
ca. 1912: Consolidated by Pacific Gas &
Electric Co.
|
|
Seattle, WA
|
10
|
Undetermined
|
Pre-1913: Consolidated by Pacific Northwest Public Service Company
|
|
Washington, D.C.
|
10
|
Undetermined
|
Post-1906: Consolidated by Washington Gas Light
Co., the original manufactured gas company
|
Compiled by Allen W. Hatheway, as presently known to or suspected by the author. Note that district stations are counted in FMGP column,
when known as such and as potential locations of tar residuals.
|
visitors since last revision on 03/16/08 |
|
