The Holly Street Power Plant was initially constructed in 1958 to serve the growing Austin Community. This electric power plant ran off

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

. It was constructed from 1958 till 1974, but began to produce electricity in 1960. The Holly Street Power Plant operated for 47 years until it was decommissioned in 2007 due to citizen complaints over the chemical spills that took place in 1974, 1991, and 1992 and the

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is ma ...

the plant created.

Decommission and destruction

The plant closed on September 30, 2007. After years of alleged environmental pollution seeping out into nearby neighborhoods as well as the local Town Lake, environmental justice groups fought with the city to demolish the plant. They argued that

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

rates had increased and that the noise from the plant far exceeded normal living thresholds. The plant ceased providing power for nearby residents in 2007, but would not see the actual demolition start until 2011. Companies were sought by the City of Austin to provide the destruction. This would lead to a halt in progress as the city could not reach agreements with multiple companies on payment. Decommissioning of the plant was still in progress in late 2017 when it entered the final stage of decommission: the physical building was gone but many tests to still had to be run before it was fully decommissioned and turned over to the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department.

References

{{Reflist Former natural gas-fired power stations in the United States 1960 establishments in Texas 2007 disestablishments in Texas Buildings and structures in Austin, Texas Natural gas-fired power stations in Texas Former power stations in Texas