your electrical connection - newton power station retirees · your electrical connection volume 12,...

Your Electrical Connection

March, 2014

Volume 12, Issue 3

Inside this issue:

Newton IDOT Tour 2

Roger’s World 2

Vacation Enjoyed BySome Past and Pre-sent NPS Employees

3

Plant Anniversaries(Continued)

5

CongratulationsChris Hankins

6

Wellness Corner 7

Upcoming Events 7

April Anniversaries &Birthdays

7

Safety CommitteeHighlights

3

Plant Anniversaries(Continued)

6

Plant Anniversaries 4

Number of Days Since Last...

First Aid 85

Recordable 213

Lost Time 229

* Numbers based on March13, 2014.

Safety Stats:

Scrubber Update…Mike Walker

Left: Site week of 12/09/2013

Weather has been a major detriment tothe Newton Scrubber Project’s construc-tion progress since the last scrubberupdate article in December 2013. How-ever, despite the weather, constructioncontinues to move forward. Buildingside panels have now been installed onthe north side of the Recycle PumpBuilding. The Recycle Pump Buildinghas also had the roof installed, alongwith roof mounted exhaust fans. MistEliminator Buildings #1 and #2 have hadtheir building side panels installed and

Left: Site week of 03/10/2014

Major duct lifts have also taken placesince the last Scrubber Update article.Duct work modules N, W, V, and Uhave been set in place. Duct workmodules L and M were being preparedto be set in place at the time this articlewas being written. After the duct workmodules have been set in place, theinsulation contractor follows right be-hind with the installation of lagging andinsulation. The Project is on scheduleto complete the major duct lifts by mid-March 2014 – weather dependent.

The pipefitters continue with the installation of slurry spray nozzles in the Absorber Buildings.The electrical contractor has completed the installation of lighting fixtures on the south AbsorberBuilding stair towers.Anticipated for delivery in March 2014 will be the new switchyard structure, new transmissionpoles, and the balance of the project’s butterfly valves.

Your Electrical Connection Volume 12, Issue 3

Newton IDOT Tour…Paul Hardiek

A group of 48 professionals from the Illinois Department ofTransportation (IDOT) made up of engineers and field techni-cians toured the Newton Power Station recently. The group’sfocus is roadway materials and material testing. The group wasconducting a quarterly meeting at the District 7 facility in Effing-ham and requested a tour of the plant for a better understandingof how Class C fly ash is created. Class C fly ash is created asa byproduct from subbituminous coal combustion and collectedin electrostatic precipitators at Newton Power Station. The ClassC fly ash is used as economical substitute to cement in the mixdesign of concrete used in many IDOT roadway applications.The Class C fly ash also enhances the compressive strength inconcrete at the correct mix ratios.

Roger’s World...Roger Bass

As a Dynegy PRIDE initiative for marketing fly ash andgenerating revenue while avoiding disposal cost, the tourwas an excellent forum to inform 48 individuals across thestate. The tour was well received and the following quotewas given as appreciation from IDOT Professional Engi-neer Dave Miller “I just wanted to personally thank you andyour staff for an outstanding tour of your facilities on Febru-ary 19th at the Newton Power Station. Everyone was im-pressed with the facilities, informative presentation andknowledgeable tour guides. To a group of Engineers andTechnicians whose principle interest deals with a widerange of materials, the tour was extremely interesting.”

I have put up with this long enough. I have had my fill. Muchmore of this and I won’t be able to deal with it. It’s got to getbetter. It surely can’t get any worse. Some of you may thinkyou know what I am talking about, and you may be right ontarget. I am talking about winter. This has been one long,cold and snowy one. We haven’t had a winter like this in quitesome time. I heard the weather person on one of the localtelevision stations say they have never seen a winter this bad.I can imagine he hasn’t. This weatherman looked to be in hisearly twenties. The last time we had what I would call a “badwinter”, he was probably in diapers.Now we have phrases like “polar vortex”. With today’s tech-nology, we can see this “polar vortex” as it swings downthrough the United States. I figure this “polar vortex” hasbeen around since the beginning of time. Ancient man proba-bly didn’t think much about the changes of the weather like wedo. It seems like in this day and age, if the weather forecastcalls for severe weather, schools are closed, meetings arecanceled, and grocery store shelves are emptied by peoplegetting prepared. Just how much milk and bread does some-one need? It is a good thing milk and bread prices don’t fluc-tuate like gas prices.Scholars wonder what happened to the people around thearea of the Cahokia Mounds. I wonder if their weather manprobably came up with some name for an extremely bad snowstorm and warned them. Instead of stocking up on bread andmilk, they probably had their fill of the winter and decided justto move south. There were probably a few that stayed be-cause they liked to cross country ski and ice fish, but the restjust said “we‘re outta here”.You have probably had a parent or grandparents tell you howthey had to walk to school in two feet of snow uphill both

ways. They might have been exaggerating a little but prob-ably not by much. I believe they didn’t worry about howthey were going to deal with the weather; they just went onabout their business. Both of my parents grew up on farms.The animals still had to be taken care of and chores had tobe done. You still went to school and you still had to getwood and coal to the house.Anyway, this winter is about over. We shouldn’t have toworry about too many more snow storms. I do remembergoing on a fishing trip to Lake of Egypt in Southern Illinois inlate April of 1978. I woke up one morning to see about aninch of snow on the ground. The good thing was, it didn’tlast long. And for those of you that thought I was thinkingabout something instead of winter, you may have beenclose, but this time it was winter I was thinking about.

Till next time please be safe.

At a family picnic, my aunt was admonishing her 6 yearold son to wash his hands before eating.He protested that they weren’t dirty; after a few minutesof complaining, he did go and wash them.Later, while they stood in line for the condiments to addto their hamburgers, the boy dropped his food on thegrass. He stood whimpering at his mother’s side untilshe said: “Oh, pick it up. A little dirt never hurt anyone.”


Safety Committee Highlights…Fred Davies

The Safety Committee met on March 5. The station had 0 firstaids, 0 recordables, and 0 lost time accidents in February; aswell as for the year.An immediate safety concern was discussed—slick spots onwalkways and parking lots. It was suggested to get a snowblade for the bob cat and Buck is going to get a quote for thesnow blade.The Yellow Alert was discussed; Buck expressed concernabout the long term problems with dust suppression.The 2014 Safety Committee Goals were discussed; those be-ing: Housekeeping, Job Briefs and Communication.Kent Schafer went over the 3M Eyewear Program. Kent iswaiting on forms from 3M. Everyone will be able to use theeye doctors they have used in the past; plus there will be moreoptions for glasses to choose from. This should be effective inthe next couple of weeks.A long discussion was held on controlling coal pile dustingissues and looking for low cost opportunities to control thedusting.

Vacation Enjoyed By Some Past and Present NPS Employees…Twyla Harvey

A group of NPS employees, both past and present, together with their friends and family members, enjoyed a cruise to the Ba-hamas the middle of February. Thanks to Jeff Carter for having this picture taken for the newsletter. Also, Jeff said they areplanning another trip next February and if you are interested, give Jeff a call.Those who enjoyed the trip were Phil and Susan Haussy, Pete and Sherri Geltz, Brad and Sharon Ghast, David and Kathy Sid-well, Jeff and Seth Carter, Harry Hopkins, Rich and Barb Swearingen, Terri and Doug Funneman, Len Meinhart and friend,Patti.

New Action Items:

· A vehicle lift for the tractor garage.

· Ongoing dusting issues with fly ash in the fly ash hop-per room.

· A fire hydrant in the Coal Yard that needs repaired.John expressed appreciation for everyone’s input. Hesaid things aren’t perfect; but, we are doing our best. Hereminded everyone to not become complacent; and, toget issues addressed.The March safety slogan is: Safety Success Is No Acci-dent.The next meeting will be held in the Service Building onWednesday, April 2, at 0730 hours.


Plant Anniversaries Celebrated...Twyla Harvey

Part of C Shift: L-R: Ross Meinhart, Terry Hanratty, Lucas Em-merich, Guest of Honor, Jerry Miller, Jim Taylor, and Tony Ochs.

Jerry receives congratulations from hisSupervisor, Ross Meinhart.

Jerry Miller celebrated his 5 year anniversary at Newton Plant on March 8, 2014, with his fellow C shift employees.Jerry started at Newton on January 5, 2009, as an Utilityman 1st 6 Months. On April 19, 2009, Jerry was awarded the OH(Operator Helper) job in Operations and has since moved up to an AO (Auxiliary Operator) on July 15, 2012.Congratulations, Jerry, on your first 5 years at Newton and we hope you have many more.

Steve Calloni celebrated his 5 year Newton Plant anniver-sary on February 20, 2014, with a cake and coffee.Steve came to NPS from Continental Tire in Mt. Vernon,on February 9, 2009, as an Instrument Electrical Techni-cian. He continues as an IE Tech on the 11-7 shift.Congratulations, Steve, on your first 5 years at Newtonand we hope you have many more.

Steve receives congratulations fromhis Supervisor, Lance Farmer.


Plant Anniversaries Celebrated (continued)...Twyla Harvey

Shift Supervisor, Dan Ritz, celebrated his 35 years of NPS service on March 6; with a cake and coffee. Dan is better known asthe Fuel Handling Supervisor.Dan started at Newton on September 29, 1978, as a temporary Utilityman. On February 1, 1979, Dan became a full time New-ton employee as an Utilityman 1st 6 Months. On March 28, 1979, he became an OH (Operator Helper) and a month later hemoved to the scrubber as a PO3 (Process Operator 3); on January 1, 1980, Dan was the successful bidder of a PO2 positionand on May 16, 1982, he was awarded the PO1 position opening. On May 24, 1987, Dan became an Assistant FGD Shift Su-pervisor and on January 5, 1997, he became an Assistant Plant Shift Supervisor. Dan was later promoted to Shift Supervisor.You and your crew fought through a lot of challenges this winter and did a great job. Congratulations Dan and thanks for yourmany years of service.

Coal Yard Crew: L—R: Nick Correll, Jamey Webster, Ron Os-borne, Jim Quandt, Rob Monroe, Guest of Honor, Dan Ritz, TimDion, Carl Will, Steve Fox and Glenn Frohning.

Dan Ritz receives his ser-vice award from his Super-visor, Paul Hardiek.

Dan Ritz with his anni-versary cake and cook-ies.


Plant Anniversaries Celebrated (continued)...Twyla Harvey

Mike’s Maintenance Team: L-R: David Paul, Julian Gordon, Guest of Honor,Mike Apple, Randy Johnson, Duane Menke, David Sidwell, Scott Cummins, Ja-son Cooper, Chris Collins, Tom Wetherholt, Pat Simpson, Skip Moore andTravis Dial.

Mike Apple receives congratula-tions from his Supervisor, RickWolford.

A cake and coffee was held on March 12, to celebrate Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor, Mike Apple’s 35 years of serviceat Newton Power Station.Mike started at NPS on February 26, 1979, as an Utilityman 1st 6 Months and on April 4, 1979, Mike moved to Operations asan OH (Operator Helper). Later that month he moved to the scrubber as a PO3 (Process Operator 3). Mike continued tomove up through Operations to the top scrubber job of PO1. On November 15, 1987, Mike was the successful bidder of aRepairman Apprentice position. After going through the apprentice program, Mike topped out as a Journeyman Repairmanon June 7, 1991. He remained a Journeyman Repairman until he was promoted to a Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor onApril 15, 2002.Mike was an excellent Repairman and continues to be an excellent MM Supervisor. Best wishes Mike on your 35 years ofservice; you are a real asset at Newton Power Station.

CONGRATULATIONSCHRIS HANKINS

Chris topped out as Certified Welder Repairmanon February 28, 2014


* Any omissions in this sectionare entirely unintentional.

4/2 Kieth Trimble4/3 Mark Oliver4/7 Roger Bass4/20 Rob Monroe4/23 Dean Edrington4/29 Phil Mayer4/30 Roland Chapman

Upcoming Events April Anniversary & Birthdays

April 2 Safety Comm. MeetingApril 18 Good FridayJune 10 Blood Drive

35 Years 3/23/1979 Allen Niemerg

Wellness Corner...Twyla Harvey

A lot of Americans eat out several times a week. Even if you are dining at a five star restaurant, you can find some smartmenu choices. I have noticed more and more restaurants are adding a “healthy” section to their menu. Some restaurants areeven listing calories, fat content, etc. I am not suggesting that you order from that section only, but at least take a look at it andI think you will be surprised to find some good options. Remember, broiled, baked or steamed is always a better option thanfried.This month’s suggested change: Plan ahead. Look for restaurants with a wide variety of menu options. And study themenu ahead of time, if it is available online, so you already know the healthiest choices.

We hear a lot about vitamins and I want to tell you about the benefits of Vitamin A and what foods contain the most.

· Vitamin A can help keep cancer at bay; the vitamin helps to control the malignant cells. It is best to get your Vitamin Afrom natural sources (what you eat) rather than popping vitamin supplements.

· Vitamin A also helps build immunity in children. A deficiency in this vitamin for children increases their vulnerability to in-fections.

· Vitamin A also helps in performing bodily functions. It plays a direct role in performing physiological functions and helps inthe development of the central nervous system.

· Vitamin A also helps in preventing signs of aging. It helps keep lines and wrinkles away by producing more collagen andalso gives you healthier hair.

· Vitamin A not only improves your eyesight but also helps prevent eye disorders.

The best natural sources of Vitamin A are fruits and vegetables; including carrots, spinach, butternut squash, cantaloupe,mangoes, pumpkins and sweet potatoes; in other words, dark green and orange fruits and vegetables.As winter FINALLY goes away, we all want to be outside enjoying the much welcomed spring. Whether it is taking a walk,running, cleaning up the yard, or getting the garden ready to plant, all these activities are a good form of exercise. This is awin/win for everyone’s health………..enjoying the sunshine and warm weather and getting some exercise at the same time.

SAFETY SUCCESS IS NO ACCIDENT

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