Coal ash spill reveals risks, lapses in waste regulation

[DogPoundPup]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The coal ash spill in Tennessee last month is putting a spotlight on whether the ash from 450 other power plants around the country could be contaminating the nation's drinking water supplies.

Some coal ash is recycled into products such as cement or placed in secure landfills, but much of it ends up in gravel pits, abandoned mines and unlined landfills — or in ponds like the one that burst in Kingston, Tenn., on Dec. 22. In the Tennessee incident, 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge laced with arsenic and other toxic materials poured over 300 acres — making it one of the nation's worst environmental spills.

The EPA in 2000 decided that coal ash wasn't hazardous waste and left regulation up to the states. Now, however, environmental activists say the Tennessee spill shows the need for federal standards for how coal waste is handled at the coal-fired power plants around the nation.

"It's an insanely dangerous scenario that's been allowed to develop, but it's all under the radar screen," said Jeffrey Stant of the Environmental Integrity Project, a group formed by former EPA enforcement attorneys that's compiling data on coal ash disposal sites.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/59116.html

[NOW tense]

1. Energy First. Health last.

It is the American way. Worship your golden cow republicans. Worship that all mighty dollar while you are alive because when you die, you can't take it with you. I hope for a day when we can put humans first.

[Robbien]

2. NYT article saying coal ash used to pump up farm soil. Yum, want some arsenic with your salad?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/07sludge.html

Like the one in Tennessee, most of these dumps, which reach up to 1,500 acres, contain heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium, which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to be a threat to water supplies and human health. Yet they are not subject to any federal regulation, which experts say could have prevented the spill, and there is little monitoring of their effects on the surrounding environment.

In fact, coal ash is used throughout the country for construction fill, mine reclamation and other “beneficial uses.” In 2007, according to a coal industry estimate, 50 tons of fly ash even went to agricultural uses, like improving soil’s ability to hold water, despite a 1999 E.P.A. warning about high levels of arsenic. The industry has promoted the reuse of coal combustion products because of the growing amount of them being produced each year — 131 million tons in 2007, up from less than 90 million tons in 1990.

[Blaze Diem]

3. Have a relative who is Prez of a coal fired plant in ND..Division of North American Coal Corp.

Generally it seems to be a plant that complies with environmental laws, at least from what the public sees.
I do know that at one time, (don't know if they still do this) they used fly ash as a surface for local highways. Makes a nice smooth surface & stands up to the temp extremes in this part of the country, but can only be used as a paving substance nearest the plant since it needs to be applied when it is still at a hot temp, making lengthy transport difficult.

Any info as to North American Coal Corp and their possible dirty little toxic dumping secrets?
Thanks
Blaze