Federal Survey Finds Coal Ash Sites In 35 States

WASHINGTON — (AP) The toxic leftovers from burning coal for power are sitting in nearly 600 sites in 35 states, according to a federal survey released Tuesday.

Spills have occurred at 34 of those sites over the last decade.

Many of the spills were minor compared with the disaster that occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority's power plant in Kingston, Tenn., in December. That spill, which flooded hundreds of acres of land, damaged homes and killed fish in nearby rivers, is not included in the data, although it triggered the EPA's March request of 61 power companies for information on how they manage coal combustion waste.

The survey is the most comprehensive list to date of coal ash storage sites and includes information submitted by 219 facilities.

The EPA said Tuesday that to date it had not received any information or detected any issues at the 584 coal ash storage sites identified that required immediate action.

But environmental groups, which obtained the data last week, said that the number of sites and the danger they pose to surrounding communities shows that coal ash ponds need federal regulation.

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal that can include heavy metals and other toxic contaminants. But no federal regulations or standards govern its storage and disposal, although the EPA has long recognized coal ash as a risk to human health and the environment and knows of 67 cases where it is known or suspected of polluting water.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson earlier this year said that the agency would consider federal rules, but it is unclear whether the ash will be controlled like household trash or under the more stringent rules for hazardous waste.

Story continues below

advertisement

Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, a consortium of electricity producers that includes many included in the EPA survey, said Tuesday that the data showed overall a good track record.

"There are no ticking time bombs," Roewer said. "We are confident that there is not another Tennessee Valley Authority waiting to happen."

******

Click here for a full list of sites.

If you live near a coal ash site send us photos and tell us how it has affected your life. Just press participate below, mark where the site is on our map, upload a picture and share your story.

Coal Ash Sites Near You

 

Find a picture, click the participate button, add a title and upload your picture

Comments

[Ganapati]

No, seriously,
Do right wingnuts believe in anything of value?
Reading their comments here makes me think of heartless, amoral people
that seek regressing to living in the jungle.
Oh, and they are the civilized ones, the ones that refute any contract between
citizens that is not monetary. That's their version of freedom. Sc*ew each other
is they can afford it.
Seriously, what kind of ideology is this? Nothing anybody who understands the concept of citizenship would be proud of, for sure.

[JPHR]

Having run operations of a coal fired power plant in the Netherlands I can testify that all fly ash was recycled in the cement industry and read building materials during the 1980' and 1990'. So this is really a problem of your own making or more precisely of your unwillingness to apply regulation. Free market ideology with leaving the environmental damage as a legacy to society....nice your grandchildren will be most grateful.

[Yeah-Me]

Certainly something us here in the US could learn, I'd say.

[MelloY]

I have one somewhat near me and I can't complain. If we want power in our homes at reasonable prices, this is the trade we make. Outside of that one incident, this article doesn't mention any other issues. Can't say that's a convincing reason for government regulation in this case.

[pinkibus]

MelloY - coal ash is not the greatest problem created by burning coal. There is the problem of what goes up the chimney must come down. . Mercury is a really bad thing that goes up the chimney.n The effects of mercury are horrific but if you just care about cheap energy then it won't bother you. Then there is the problem of greenhouse gases - but you probably think climate change is just a hoax. I mean cigarettes are cheap and even though the doctors have said they cause lung cancer for decades, for decades the tobacco companies said they were okay - even healthy. Scientists - what do they know. So you keep on believing cheap energy is the best. I personally, have actually saved the price of my new energy efficient appliances by reducing my energy costs. All paid for by saving. And I keep on saving each and every month. What a fool I have been to object to cheap energy supplied by coal. And how stupid I am to object to the pollution that it has produced and is producing. Energy efficiency is a saving but I have to believe you can't add two and two and will never ever accept that.

[pmagellan]

of course you can, 'complain' that is

[monk2000]

WHATEVER SOCIALISTS!!!!!!!!

IN a capitalist democracy we should be able to destroy the world around us w/out thoughts about it's ramifications.

Being able to destroy the environment while putting millions in my pocket is the freaking American Dream.. don't turn that into a nightmare..

*pats self on back*

[Ariadne]

And besides the Rapture is coming!

[Yeah-Me]

As a bumpersticker said, that I once saw ...

"The Environment:
Ignore it, it'll go away"

[Hajji]

ilovemountains.org has a "Mountain Memorial" link to google earth that highlights some of the over 500 mountains that have been destroyed, gone forever and forever beyond "reclaimation".

ilovemountains.org

[Hajji]

http://ilovemountains.org/memorial/

[oldcitizen]

Having lived downwind from several major coal powered electricity generating facilities in three different states, I am personally experienced enough to shout: There is no such thing as "clean coal!" Even the best run of these plants pour tons of foul smelling pollutants into the atmosphere, cause life threatening acid rain, and blacken the land with filthy ash. Owners of the plants do, of course, make lots of money for themselves and the dirtier their plants are, the higher their profits.

[YoJymbo]

This is the dirty left overs from "Clean Coal", instead of releasing it into the air they store it in leaky containers from which it spills out into rivers, streams, homes, etc.

[Big0725]

Is this the clean coal that industry has been pushing?

[madfigs]

It's too bad they chose to display the results in alphabetical order by the name of the coal power plant.
Why not by location?
And why not release the raw data in something other than a .pdf file so someone can actually easily plot these points on a map?

[Big0725]

Why not, why not, why not!

Exert some effort you whinney little sh*ithead!

[madfigs]

It's not about me exerting an effort or not - I'm actually already converting the data and plotting it in a GIS.
I was commenting more on the fact that to the average person, this data is not meaningfully displayed. Can you determine the nearest coal ash site to your city, just by looking at this data? Or how many are in your state? Or what communities these environmental hazards are the biggest risk for?

[scooperss]

photo

"Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, a consortium of electricity producers that includes many included in the EPA survey, said Tuesday that the data showed overall a good track record."

Like I'm going to trust his word.

[Peets101]

That has to be photo-shopped. Just this week, I heard Sean Hannity describe how he flew over some mountaintop mines and he says that they are beautiful. He said that after the coal is taken out, the mining companies restore them to beautiful park-lie condition. They are, according to Sean, doing a good deed for the ecology. And, the big plus -- they are doing it for America -- for us, to make us energy independent and to keep the cost of energy down. He stopped short of recommending Freedom Medals.

[scooperss]

Uhm, I hate to burst your bubble but there are some mountaintop removal sites that have been completely reclaimed and are beautiful.
On one a gentleman built his house underground. True story.

But am I happy that mining companies are destroying our mountains. He// NO.

[Peets101]

You aren't bursting my bubble. I am aware that some have been reclaimed. My point is that Hannity was not differentiating, but was making a general claim that the coal companies are good citizens, good for the planet. There are always exceptions. I'm sure that, like myself, you want the destruction to stop.

[hypodoche]

I know I'm wasting my breath here because I'm not Sean Hannity, so nothing I, or anyone on HuffPo, say could be true, obviously.

That aside, the article was about coal ash spills and storage, not about mountaintops. Coal ash is poisonous, unregulated, and is strewn about the country in a haphazard manner with little oversight, and has been hidden from the public until recently. It's dangerous, it will certainly lead to more disasters like the most recent one, and attention needs to be garnered. We are rendering sections of this country uninhabitable in the future, on top of putting citizens and land at major risk, and this is just one of many guilty industries that are dodging responsibility. I'm sure you felt very empowered and righteous as the purple mountains sang love songs to humanity in Hannity's waking dream, but false patriotism does not counteract poison. Try reading a science article for once instead of basing your opinions on right-wing ideologues who profit off the jerks of your knee. Maybe you can also learn how not to re-write what you read to fit your response.

[monk2000]

Dude it will lead to a beautiful landscape in 100's to 1000's of years... re-populating the soil with nutriants and iron, zinc, etc. Don't be so short minded.

[Peets101]

You missed the sarcasm in my post. I agree with you 100%. Hannity is a shill and a liar.

[PunKinPai]

First, it's nuts to rely on Hannity for anything remote resembling a fact. Second, to restore something doesn't mean completely destroying it, then making it into something completely opposite. Third, while the former mountains may end up looking "park-like" from the air, the truth is that the mountain-top removal debris is bulldozed into valleys where people used to live, polluting or destroying sources of water that people used to drink, spreading toxic elements into the air that people breathe, and destroying habitat for unimagineable numbers of animals or even whole species. It's an abhorrent practice.

[monk2000]

100% true. Right wing thinks they have the right to blindly destroy anythig and everything.. they call themselves Christains... and as the book of "Palin" says in the "REAL" new testament.

Palin 12:22-25

22 for those men will come to the mountain tops with beautiful machines. 23 they will clear off the rubble and move it to another location, disturbing everything in it's wake. 24 BUT FEAR NOT, for I have given you the power to destroy. 25 Though my father gave this world as a gift it should be mistreated and disrespected, along with people who look different then you.


I think it's a lost book of the C Street folks. THEY ARE ALL SO LOVING AND CARING!!!!

[Peets101]

It's amazing - you also missed the sarcasm in my post. I'll have to stop being so subtle. I agree with you.

[OkieMon]

coal and oil are nothing but toxic waste....go solar/wind­/hydroelec­tric/geoth­ermal/hydr­ogen and lithium batteries for storage......

[SolarPowerGuy]

"lithium batteries for storage......"

Lithium batteries make sense for cars, where the need to make a battery lightweight is overwhelming. For on-grid electrical storage, you don't need to worry about weight. There are many rechargeable battery technologies which are cheaper and which last longer than lithium. They're just too heavy for cars.

Another way to store electrical energy on-grid is by using bi-directional hydroelectric systems. You pump water uphill when you have surplus energy, and you let it flow back downhill when you need energy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_energy_storage

[BBackSoon]

‘bi-directional hydroelectric systems.’

I am all for this but would it be too much to have people on site so the pumps don’t get left on and burst the dam?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taum_Sauk_pumped_storage_plant

[OkieMon]

or just use excess electricity to generate hydrogen from water and store the hydrogen for fuel cell use....

[StephBr]

Lithium batteries are not a clean, cheap or even efficient solution.
They'll be forgotten in a few years.

[viflyer]

Totally un regulated. I find that amazing!

BUT, the coal lobby runs the show in Congress, so I guess it is to be expected.

Remember, the government can't regulate since it became a "partner" and "friend" of big business. LOL!

I don't expect ANY change in policy from the Dems. or the Obama administration.

[BBackSoon]

Maybe not, but if and when the Repubs get back in power we will be giving the Coal industry tax breaks for keeping this stuff in large piles so we can keep an eye on it.

[viflyer]

Yes, keep an eye on it, LOL

We should do the same thing for Plutonium, ha!

In fact, I think we should just keep an eye on everyhting. Let's watch the glaciers melt, let's watch the sewage run down the street into the bay.

Yep, keeping an eye on things is a REALLY good solution to environmental policies.

Wink, wink!

[scooperss]

"Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, a consortium of electricity producers that includes many included in the EPA survey, said Tuesday that the data showed overall a good track record."

Like I'm going to trust his word.

[Big0725]

It's like the Italian Facsists extoling he virtues of Mussolini for making the trains run on time.