Link...

Perhaps all the Execs would be willing to chip in to help these people out. They are spending close to $300 million on the new scrubber but ignore an aging containment dike?

Link...

Maybe it is too soon to start asking such questions, but in time these questions should be addressed.

Aren't there some pretty serious contaminants in coal ash? It would seem to me that storage in a pond {water} would pollute the water with those contaminants and through capillary action carry those contaminants into the surrounding soil. Isn't migration of these contaminants a pretty serious concern too?

As to what caused the dike to fail, it seems to me that water freezing probably had more to do with that than rainfall. Ice tends to expand, and anyone who has used just water as engine coolant in the winter can testify to that one. Not pointing any elbows here, but I too was young once. :-)

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is on scene. The whole area is a mess, traffic is snarled up. This will cost TVA, which means it will cost the taxpayers.

September 4, 2007

Washington, DC -- A new EPA report measuring the health risks posed by disposal practices at coal ash dumps confirms what residents who live nearby know only too well – pollution from these sites significantly increases both cancer and noncancer health risks and degrades water quality in groundwater supplies.

By examining 181 "coal combustion waste," or coal ash disposal sites throughout the country, the report estimates risks to health and the environment from coal ash disposal. The report found that unlined coal ash waste ponds pose a cancer risk 900 times above what is defined as 'acceptable.' The report also finds that coal ash disposal sites release toxic chemicals and metals such as arsenic, lead, boron, selenium, cadmium, thallium, and other pollutants at levels that pose risks to human health and the environment.

Earthjustice, the Clean Air Task Force, Environmental Integrity Project and other national and local environmental and public health organizations have long called for regulations that protect against the toxic ash produced by coal-fired power plants. Instead, a common industry practice is to mix the pollutant-laden ash with water and dump the toxic brew into unlined or inadequately lined ponds, allowing pollutants to poison groundwater supplies.

"Strict standards regulating the disposal of coal ash are long overdue," said Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans. "There is no excuse for further delay. The EPA has the data. They know how grave the health risk is and yet still millions of people remain exposed to this dangerous waste. Coal ash is our country's second largest source of industrial waste, and it's time the EPA made these polluters do their part to clean up."

The EPA report finds that coal ash dumped in unlined or clay-lined ponds and landfills pose the greatest risk. According to data collected in 1995, more than 60 percent of the country's coal ash disposal units are unlined or clay-lined.

EPA also found that the use of a composite liner system significantly reduces the risk of exposure to cancer-causing and health-threatening pollution to within acceptable levels. But the federal government, and most states, do not require such protective measures.

"For decades, coal ash has been disposed in unlined landfills and waste ponds, contaminating the water throughout the U.S.," said Jeff Stant of Clean Air Task Force. "EPA promised in 2000 to require safeguards for coal ash disposal, yet this long-awaited action demonstrates that they are completely out of touch with what's happening around these sites. Communities near coal plants deserve far better."

About 129 million tons of coal ash is generated in the U.S. each year, making it the nation's second largest waste steam. The toxic byproduct of coal combustion is disposed at approximately 600 coal ash landfills and industrial waste ponds nationwide. At least 23 states have poisoned surface or groundwater supplies from improper disposal of coal ash.

Read the complete EPA report here. (PDF)

Click here to see a table of total tons of coal ash generated in each state. (PDF)

Contact:

Lisa Evans, Earthjustice, (781) 631-4119
Jeff Stant, Clean Air Task Force, (317) 359-1306
Eric Schaeffer, Environmental Integrity Project, (202) 296-8800

i have questions they say thier testing the water.how r they testing it for some of theese bi produckts?this is really scary!any on have a heads up?

SOME people in a small part of the overall Swan Pond community have evacuated, mainly from Berkshire Rd. If you know the area, you know how many (few) families that might be. I don't mean to minimize the impact the incident has had on them, but it is a bit of hyperbole to say that "Swan Pond" is evacuated. No need to scare folks who may have family/friends in the area who are essentially unaffected.

RB

A lot of Kingston's water comes from its spring located on Swan Pond.

Until the new water line goes in many homeowner's along Swan Pond continue to use untreated water from Kingston's water line.

Haven't heard any reports that Kingston's spring has been affected by this type of pollution - its water shed mostly lies in the other direction.

Perhaps any underground flow is toward the river.

text of email from Kingston City Manager.

Note that Kingston gravity water line (reference in prior post) has been destroyed leaving about 45 homes without water. Read below:

Mayor and Council:

Roane Central’s lines are not impacted. I called Bob Creswell to see if Roane Central could expedite construction of the pressure water line which they are constructing. He has called the engineer, and we are told that construction will take about 10 days. This will be the fastest way for customers to obtain water service.

Swan Pond Road along with the railroad are completely inundated with about six feet of mud and ash. The gravity water line, Harriman’s wastewater plant effluent line, telephone, gas and electric are all gone. The embayment area of the lake is filled up with ash and mud. Several houses have no access. I assume TVA will try to place transportation back into service as quickly as possible in order to keep the plant operating and provide access to residents. Restoration of other services could take several weeks.

We normally get about 30 percent of our water from the spring. As you know we maintain enough plant capacity to carry the demand if we were to lose the spring, but treating the spring water is much less expensive than treating river water. I would expect that TVA will repair the gravity line, but it make take several weeks.

Jim [Pinkerton]

I've been wondering about "Proper Disposal" of coal ash. Do we bury it like Uranium and Plutonium? Do we process it into another chemical like the waste from Aluminum processing that gets put into our water as Florine? Or do we just chunk it into ponds, creeks, and the water table itself?

On the other hand, is there a way of recycling it into something beneficial to the environment? Since coal is, essentially, decayed plant and animal remains, surely there must be some way of re-incorporating it into the environment that is safe and even beneficial. Perhaps there is a business opportunity in the "Green" market for such a process.

We can't keep burying our waste problems; they will always find a way of swimming up behind us and biting us in the posterior.