The smoke produced by combustion in the boiler's furnace passes through equipment that removes pollution. A baghouse uses filters to catch ashes. Wires and collection plates charged with over 14,000 volts of direct current (DC) remove pollution that the filters miss. The dust moves away from the high voltage wires and sticks to the collection plates. Every few minutes, hammers tap the plates and the dust that has collected on them falls down into hoppers. Trucks stop under the hoppers, load up the dust, and haul it away. This waste product can be recycled as an ingredient in concrete.

The smoke may also contain sulfur dioxide, which passes right through the baghouse. If lots of sulfur gets into the air, it makes an acid rain that can damage forests and crops. Scrubbers take out sulfur dioxide by converting it to a plaster-like chemical.