Coal Ash Spill » Obama administration

Some of nation’s coal ash ponds have significant deficiencies

Jennifer Walker-Journey — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:48:58 +0000

Indiana and Kentucky have the most coal ash ponds in the country and many of those ponds have numerous deficiencies and were built without trained engineers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA conducted the survey on the nation’s coal ash ponds following last December’s massive spill in which a coal ash impoundment pond at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal-firing plant in east Tennessee broke, sending 1.1 gallons of toxic sludge onto 300 acres of a neighboring community. The coal ash destroyed homes, damaged property and contaminated nearby waterways, and is being blamed for making many locals sick.

An investigation into the cause of the TVA spill has sent a ripple of new standards for coal ash impoundments throughout the country, including a survey conducted by the EPA of all electric utilities. The EPA found nearly 600 ash ponds. The most ponds were found in Indiana, with 53 ponds. Kentucky came in close second with 44 ponds. The survey also found significant deficiencies in the way some of the impoundment ponds have been inspected, though which ponds and where were not disclosed.

In 2000, the EPA deemed coal ash a nonhazardous material, and thus it did not fall under federal inspections. Inspections are left up to state regulators. Since 2000, improved pollution controls keep more and more toxins from leaving smokestack, thus increasing the amount of toxins in the coal ash. Coal ash contains arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium, all of which have been shown to contribute to serious health conditions such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications.

The Obama administration has promised to adopt national standards for the handling of coal combustion wastes including coal ash ponds, though no time line has yet been set. The EPA says it will analyze the findings of the survey. A report will be made public by the first of next year.

Source: Courier-Journal

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Some of nation’s coal ash ponds have significant deficiencies

Obama administration focuses on clean coal practices

Jennifer Walker-Journey — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:28:05 +0000

President Obama’s new energy policies are pitting mining companies and environmentalists against each other as the federal government explores new ways of storing carbon emissions. Mining companies and the lawmakers who support them say that establishing these new measures could cost billions while environmentalists say the price is not important in comparison to the ecological damage of continuing common practices.

According to Kentucky.com, “The Department of Energy will soon announce whether it will use $1 billion in stimulus funds to resurrect FutureGen, a proposal to create in Illinois the world’s first coal-fired power plant designed to capture and bury carbon emissions underground.” The Bush administration decided against building the plant because it would cost more than $1.8 billion. The Government Accountability Office says that price tag is more like $1.3 billion. Proponents of “clean coal” argue that not building that plant put the effort back a decade.

Renewable resources are front-and-center with lawmakers these days, after a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash pond failed last December, dumping more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge on to an east Tennessee community. Previously unregulated by the federal government, coal ash ponds and storage units will soon have to follow standards outlined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for regulating coal ash.

The economic stimulus plan has $3.4 billion for the coal industry, as opposed to $16.8 billion for renewable energy and efficiency programs. The Obama administration also is says it will implement a program that would cap companies’ carbon emissions.

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Obama administration focuses on clean coal practices

Obama administration vows to propose regulations for coal ash

Jennifer Walker-Journey — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:49:35 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promised to make good on a promise it made nine years ago to issue regulations for coal ash storage. The announcement comes more than two months after a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) impoundment pond failed and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash on to 300 acres of east Tennessee property, destroying homes and damaging land in its wake.

The Obama administration backed up the promise by vowing to propose new regulations governing coal combustion waste by the end of the year and acting immediately to ensure more dangerous spills do not happen again, according to the New York Times.

The EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery is deciding now whether to regulate the waste as hazardous or nonhazardous. In 2000, the material was classified as nonhazardous, but because of better pollution controls, the ash has become more dangerous. Coal ash contains toxins such as arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium. Those materials can lead to serious health problems such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications.

Residents who live hear the Kingston, Tennessee plant have already complained of breathing problems and some have even tested positive for high levels heavy metal.

TVA is undergoing a million-dollar-a-day cleanup program that is expected to total between $525 million and $825 before it is restored.

The coal industry has long opposed regulation, saying the move will cost billions each year. Activist groups say regulation is necessary to ensure the safety of those living near the plants. EPA has raised concerns from improved tests that show more toxins than previously thought leaching from the ash into groundwater, according to the report.

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Obama administration vows to propose regulations for coal ash