Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

A new federal survey reports that 34 coal ash impoundment ponds at U.S. coal burning utilities have spilled their toxic contents in the past decade, according to the Associated Press. Many of the spills were minor compared to last December’s tragic spill at an east Tennessee plant that dumped more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge on to 300 acres of a neighboring community, knocked homes from their foundations, destroyed property, and contaminated nearby waterways. That spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant spurred the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to survey all coal-burning sites in the country, sites that are not regulated by the federal government.

The survey identified nearly 600 coal ash sites in 35 states from 219 facilities, and though it did find spills had occurred at those sites, the agency either did not receive any information or did not detect any issues at the sites that would require any immediate action.

U.S. power plants produce more than 125 million tons of coal combustion waste each year, most of which ends up in dry landfills or in above-ground coal slurry ponds like that which failed in east Tennessee last December. Coal ash contains toxins that are dangerous to humans, including arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium. These toxins have been associated with serious health consequences such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications. To date, the EPA has found groundwater contaminated with heavy metals from coal ash dumps at 67 sites.

Last December’s spill has raised serious questions by environmentalists as to the safety of coal ash sites and has pushed for federal regulation of those sites. Defining that regulation has yet to be worked out.

Meantime, Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, says that the survey offers some peace of mind. “There are no ticking time bombs,” he says.

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