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Coal Ash Concerns

Michael Forlini | Apr 1, 2009

1 reviews |

Almost everyone became concerned with coal ash when a coal ash containment dike failed at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant on December 22, 2008. The initial release of materials from the plant’s retention pond created a tidal wave of water and ash which destroyed several homes and ruptured a major gas line in a neighborhood located adjacent to the plant. The Tennessee facility's failure released about 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic sludge and flooded more than 300 acres of land, damaging homes and property. Coal ash from the release flowed into the Emory and Clinch rivers, filling large areas of the rivers and killing fish. TVA cost estimates for the clean-up range between $525 million and $825 million, not including long-term cleanup costs.

Typically, coal ash contains hazardous constituents such as lead, arsenic and mercury. Since December 24, 2008, EPA’s On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs from Region 4) have sampled and monitored surface water, drinking water and soils affected by this coal ash release. If you are interested in seeing what was found in the samples, the results can be found on the EPA OSC Web site.

Concerned with other surface impoundments and similar units retaining coal ash, on March 9, 2009, EPA requested that electric utilities that have surface impoundments or similar units provide information about the structural integrity of their units. EPA estimates there may be as many as 300 such units. These information requests are legally enforceable and must be responded to fully. EPA plans to visit many of these facilities to see first hand if the management units are structurally sound.

How could a release of this magnitude even occur?

Coal ash byproduct consists of fly ash waste, bottom ash waste, slag waste and flue gas emission control waste, generated from the primary combustion of coal, which are exempt from the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C, hazardous waste regulations.

On a separate issue, namely the mining of coal, on March 27, 2009, the EPA sent two letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressing serious concerns about the need to reduce the potential harmful impacts on water quality caused by certain types of coal mining practices, such as mountaintop mining. Because of active litigation in the 4th Circuit challenging the issuance of Corps permits for coal mining, the Corps has been issuing far fewer permits in West Virginia since the litigation began in 2007. As a result, there is a significant backlog of permits under review by the Corps.
EPA is coordinating its action with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and with other agencies including the Corps.

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Reviews

By Gia Machlin on Jul 18, 2009

Comments: NYTimes: TVA raises hazard ratings www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/science/earth/18ash.html?emc=tnt&tntemail

By dede tabak on Jun 8, 2009

Rating:

Comments: There was an article in the New York Times on Friday about the coal ash.

www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/us/06brfs-DUMPTOTAKECO_BRF.html?_r=1&emc=

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