Hundreds Of Coal Ash Dumps Across US Lack Regulation

The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge across 300 acres of East Tennessee last month was only one of more than 1,300 similar dumps across the United States -- most of them unregulated and unmonitored -- that contain billions more gallons of fly ash and other byproducts of burning coal.

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.

Read the full story here or check out the New York Times' great coal ash explainer video

OR

Get more coal sludge spill coverage:

::TVA CEO To Testify Before Congress
::Sandra Diaz: Canoeing Into The Sludge (VIDEO)
::Exxon Valdez Survivor Has Warning For Tennessee Sludge Spill Victims

Comments

[mgtillyer]

This was once a beautiful area and the devastation that now exists is unforgiveable. Kilgore doesn't "get it," TVA spokespeople don't "get it." Maybe you will. Check out the before and after video on youtube. Search "TVA coal ash-before and after"

[NWBrunette]

Corporations continually seeking to have the public pay (in one form or another) for the cost of the waste stream of their production. On and on and on as it has been from day one. There is no more clear example of how corporations run our government.

[elizaconnors]

I apologize for being so utterly without wit.

Where is our outrage? Do we really think that because we voted for Obama we are immune from the individual effects of government incompetence?

A. These toxic chemicals are not isolated to remote locations. They affect all of us.

B. Just because the people in Tennessee happen to vote Republican doesn't mean that they deserve this. The TVA lied to them. Do we think that we are not lied to? What makes us so superior that we don't care about this?

C. The people affected by this spill are Americans. Just like us. Why no outraged coverage of this story?

D. We are not stupid people. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that we are being poisoned by the effluents of our companies. Really. Take just a little time to understand the impact of these chemicals and the ones that are in your community.

E. Protect yourself. Go to the EPA website and find the like to the TRI database. You can enter your zip code and find out what emissions are released in your neighborhood. You might be surprised and extremely worried.

F. Have some compassion people.

[coco mees]

Yes, I see how free market and unregulated capitalism works for everyone!

I would love to have lead poisoning in my system as long as our GDP goes up. I will do what's best for the economy.

If you're a harsh conservative, I'm sensing you may not catch my sarcastic tone.

[OkieMon]

solar/hydrogen is the only way to go....get on it obama.....

[waverly]

One more example of "small government".......unregulated and unmonitored.

[mytwosense]

The faces of all those "clean coal" PR folks are turning ashen.

[bleeplander]

Let's just wait till the lawsuits start for bad babies, cancer, all the other horrible health issues that will come of this. Do we really need another Erin Brocovich or can we all just get a handle on it?
Nope, that's just how we do business, quick profiteering up front and then lawsuit and chapter 11 on the back end.

[IdocNC]

You mean the market didn't solve this problem?

[jerrypl]

Should anyone be surprised? Regulation--we don't need on stinkin' regulation, says the Bush Crime Family, and their corporate oligarchs.

http://eye-on-washington.blogspot.com

[strick9]

In the mid 60's we protested the mountain top removal mining. Now I see the other extreme of cheap coal. I think the ash used to be mixed with concrete to make cinder blocks. I haven"t seen any lately; they are cheaper, lighter, a darker gray in color, and lack the load carrying capacity of concrete blocks. I never thought the reason they were no longer marketed was because of the toxins in the ash.

It looks like coal is almost as toxic as nuclear energy. Until the disposal of the waste produced is solved we should not allow continued use of our land as a toxic waste dump. Those profiting should be required to clean up the mess, not pass it on to taxpayers.

[OkieMon]

this is what george "toxic waste" bush and the rest of the repu*g philosophy gets you.....r.i.p. GOP.....

[Teadye]

From what I understand from talking to a civil engineer with connections to this mess is that over the years the slag is pushed into haphazard piles with bulldozers. The problem is that these piles reach 60+ feet high with no engineering, just some bozo and a 'dozer making bigger and bigger piles. Eventually you get a dam, rain comes, dam breaks... And he said, yes, there are hundreds of piles like this all over the country.

[Stilts9]

Don't worry/Be happy.

[hellinabucket]

But, but, CHEAP COAL! It will be good when they finally figure out how much this "cheap" coal REALLY costs.