Toxic coal ash

“If coal ash poses an unacceptable level of risk, inconsistent state standards should be immediately replaced with national guidelines that would put the safety of the people in one community on the same level as families living in another,” said Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, in a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and circulated around the House of Representatives.

Coal ash is not considered a hazardous material, and thus does not fall under federal regulation. However, improvements in coal ash burning facilities over the decades have made the smoke released into the air much cleaner. Those toxins instead settle in the coal ash left behind. Tests show that coal ash can contain dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium – toxins that have linked to serious health issues such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications. That toxic ash is stored in dry or wet landfills throughout the country.

A December 2008 coal ash impoundment breach at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant brought the question of the safety of coal ash into the spotlight. Last year’s coal ash spill dumped more than a billion gallons of coal ash on to a neighboring community, knocking houses off their foundations, destroying property, and contaminating nearby waterways. Environmentalists called it the largest environmental disaster of its kind in U.S. history. The TVA began an estimated three-year, $1 billion cleanup of the area, which includes relocating the recovered coal ash to landfills in other counties and states. The first shipments of recovered coal ash have already been shipped by railcar to a landfill in Perry County, Alabama.

Storing the recovered coal ash in Perry County will generate about $3 million in storage fees and bring in about 30 jobs to the poverty-stricken, predominantly black county, which some local officials consider a boon. But people who live and work there say they fear they are sitting on a time bomb that could one day destroy their property and livelihoods.

Earlier this year, Davis met with residents of Perry County who voiced their concerns, asking if there are any guarantees that the dangerous toxins will leach into drinking water or create any health problems now or in the future. Davis’ letter to the EPA aims to address those concerns and move forward EPA efforts to establish federal safety standards that are balanced among all states.

Source: Selma Times Journal

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Rep. Davis fights for people of Perry County in coal ash debate

Coal ash contains dangerous toxins such as arsenic, barium, chromium and manganese, which have been associated with serious health concerns such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications.

“I don’t know what Tennessee law is, but under Pennsylvania law it would probably have to go to a residual waste landfill,” said Tom Rathbun, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

A TVA spokesperson says it already had given up on storing the recovered coal ash in the Pennsylvania coal mines as the mines were not properly lined to prevent the toxins from leaching into the ground.

Meanwhile, TVA has located landfills in Alabama and Georgia to store the 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash that poured from a breached impoundment pond, destroying neighboring homes and property. Both sites are Class 1 landfills. One is located in Mauk, Georgia and the other in Uniontown, Alabama.

The TVA’s cleanup effort has caused headaches for the utility, which estimates it will spend as much as $975 million to restore the land. It could be months before the cleanup is complete.

Source: Forbes/Associated Press

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Pennsylvania says no to TVA coal ash storage