Coal Ash News and Media
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The screens LG&E has installed to control coal ash dust do little to protect nearby homes.
June 9, 2013
Louisville, KY (WDRB) — Louisville Gas and Electric has been fined once again and received another notice of violation for allegedly allowing coal fly ash particles to leave its Cane Run facility. The utility, which received the notice of violation this week, also received a $5,000 fine which could increase.
The Air Pollution Control District, which has repeatedly fined the facility since 2011, claims its own scientific analysis found that fly ash (a byproduct of burning off coal) continues to leave the plant and be found on nearby homes.
The APCD also collected samples from the nearby homes. The report includes this explanation: “Three sample sets were collected before the homes were power washed in spring 2012, and eight samples sets were collected after the homes were power washed. During the sample analysis, fly ash particles were identified in amounts equal to or greater than 15% in all but one sample set (which contained 13% fly ash).
Fly ash is a byproduct of burning coal to produce electricity. WDRB News also obtained a detailed dust investigation and analysis from APCD that concludes “that dust emissions continue to be deposited on neighboring properties” and that the “fly ash particles… are likely coming from the LG&E Cane Run plant.”
Brian Phillips, a spokesman for LG&E, said in an email that the company is “in the process of reviewing the APCD’s letter and the alleged violations. We will respond to them by their deadline, and remain committed to working cooperatively with the District to meet current and future regulations.”
Neighbors like Greg Walker, whose videos of clouds of dust helped lead to these latest violations being issued by the APCD, says he doesn’t think the fines are resolving the situation.
“It just keeps occurring and occurring and we (have) no end in sight,” Walker said.
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Watch a video of coal ash dust problems at the Cane Run facility here
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June 6, 2013
The two bills now await full committee consideration (USDA)
Washington, D.C. — The House Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy voted today to pass three anti-environmental bills that will increase exposure to toxic coal ash, weaken the nation’s Superfund law and limit citizens’ access to sue federal agencies charged with protecting our environment.
Specifically, the subcommittee voted on:
The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013 (H.R. 2218), which
- Prevents the EPA from finalizing federal regulations for the safe disposal of toxic coal ash;
- Lacks a nationwide protective standard and minimum enforceable standards applicable to coal ash dumps in all states;
- Fails to establish adequate dam stability and toxic dust protections.
The Reducing Excessive Deadline Obligations Act of 2013, which
- Eliminates a basis for a lawsuit where public interest and industry plaintiffs are seeking regulatory certainty and a reasonable timeline for the EPA to establish coal ash safeguards;
- Weakens Superfund by placing new roadblocks on establishing adequate financial assurance requirements for classes of highly polluting industries;
- Eviscerates Superfund by establishing insurmountable barriers to applying financial assurance requirements to specific polluting facilities by shifting the burden from the polluting industry to the EPA to demonstrate shortfalls in bonding for cleanups of hazardous substances;
- Fails to ensure full liability for cleanup of contaminated sites.
June, 4, 2013
Washington, D.C. — Late last night, Congressman David McKinley (R-WV 1st)introduced bad legislation (H.R. 2218, the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act) designed to subvert the EPA’s ability to set federally enforceable safeguards for coal ash pollution. Despite having one of the nation’s largest coal ash impoundments in his district—which has contaminated nearby groundwater and streams with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals—Congressman McKinley persists in his misguided mission to allow power companies to continue dumping toxic coal ash into unlined and unmonitored landfills and ponds.
The following statement is from Andrea Delgado, legislative representative at Earthjustice:
The devastating TVA Kingston Fossil Plant
toxic coal ash spill in 2008. (TVA)
“Once again, Rep. McKinley has ignored science, safety standards, and coal ash problems in his own district in order to deliver a bill that threatens community health and safety, water quality, and caters to industry demands. For decades power plants have dumped their toxic coal ash into unlined and unmonitored landfills and immense lagoons. The danger became known when in 2008, a coal ash impoundment in Tennessee burst, dumping over a billion gallons of coal ash into two rivers and destroying or damaging a dozen homes. The tragedy continues as 203 other coal ash dumps in 37 states have contaminated nearby streams, rivers, lakes and aquifers with mercury, lead, arsenic, selenium and more.
Contact:
Jared Saylor, Earthjustice, (202) 745-5213
Read original press release here
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“We fully expect that the new permit will include stricter, modern pollution controls to better protect Conway and South Carolina’s environment,” said Ulla Reeves of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
June 3, 2013
Columbia, SC — Conservation groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center have secured the Department of Heath and Environmental Control’s (DEHEC) binding commitment to issue a new water pollution control permit to replace the old permit that expired almost 7 years ago at Santee Cooper’s Grainger plant in Conway, S.C. This agreement with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control resolves a lawsuit over DHEC’s decision to allow the coal ash lagoons at Santee Cooper’s Grainger Generating Station in Conway to continue discharging under an old permit that expired almost seven years ago. The new permit is scheduled to be issued by August 30, 2013.
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the suit for the Waccamaw Riverkeeper and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in September of last year to force the agency to put in place a modern permit that provides more protection for the Waccamaw River and the Conway community. In 2008, DHEC drafted a new permit with more stringent limits for arsenic, mercury, copper, and other pollutants. But after Santee Cooper objected, DHEC deferred to Santee Cooper and never issued the new permit or made it available to the public.
Because the new permit was not issued, the public never had an opportunity to comment on the permit, and Santee Cooper continued to pollute the Waccamaw River without limits on key pollutants. The Conservation Groups brought the suit also to ensure that the public, including people living in the Conway area, have a role in controlling Santee Cooper’s pollution.
May 22, 2013
Clean up of the coal ash spill at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kinston Plant. Photo by Michael Patrick
Kingston, TN – The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public meeting next week to update the public on the clean-up of the 2008 coal ash spill.
A series of dikes at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed on Dec. 22, 2008, causing an estimated 5.4 million cubic yards of ash and sludge to spill into nearby homes, farmland and the river.
On May 30, the two agencies will hold a public meeting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. EST in the Roane County High School auditorium in Kingston.
The auditorium is in Building B on the Spring Street side of the high school.
EPA representatives will update citizens about the recovery and discuss long-term plans to monitor the site.
Officials from the EPA, TVA, TDEC and the Roane County Community Advisory Group will answer questions from the public.
Public comments on the Long-Term Monitoring Plan may be emailed to TVA at kingstoncomm@tva.gov, or mailed to:
Tennessee Valley Authority
P.O. Box 40
Kingston, TN 37763
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Pollution from the massive coal ash impoundments at Asheville Power station has triggered two lawsuits. Instead of disposing of the toxic trash properly, Duke/Progress is simply moving the problem.
By John Boyle/Asheville Citizen-Times
May 18, 2013
Asheville — Between the Duke Power plant and Asheville Regional Airport, construction crews are literally moving mountains — of coal ash.
For the past five years, excavators and dump trucks have been emptying nearly all of the 91 acres of two ash ponds at the Duke Energy/Progress plant in Skyland and moving the material two miles to the airport, where it’s being used as fill to create dozens of acres of flat, usable land.
In some places at the airport, the ash fill reaches depths of 60 feet. At the Duke plant, the old fill that’s being cleaned out is 90 feet deep in places.
Kentucky-based Charah Inc. so far has moved some 2.5 million tons — 5 billion pounds — of coal ash to the airport, where it’s placed over soil, a clay liner, a polyethylene liner and a drainage liner, then capped with another layer of heat-sealed polyethylene and a six-foot virgin soil cap.
Duke, airport and state officials say it’s state-of-the-art technology, offering maximum protection for groundwater, the nearby French Broad River and a small nearby neighborhood where many residents rely on wells for drinking water.
But environmentalists harbor concerns about coal ash, the leftover material when coal is burned to generate electricity. The black powdery substance looks like fine soil and packs down easily, making it an excellent filler.
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The Waccamaw River Walk in the heart of Conway.
May 9, 2013
Charleston, S.C. – The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed comments demonstrating that Santee Cooper’s closure plan for its coal ash at its Grainger facility in Conway, S.C., is unlawful, is based on a mistaken geologic assumption, leaves arsenic and coal ash in Conway, and is destined to fail. The comments were submitted to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on behalf of the Waccamaw Riverkeeper, the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and SELC.
Santee Cooper has dumped 1.3 million tons of coal ash into unlined pits in a wetland next to the Waccamaw River in the center of Conway. Santee Cooper has known for years that the coal ash is polluting the Waccamaw River system with arsenic. In recent years, the arsenic pollution has reached 3228 ppb, over 300 times the legal limit. In 2009, DHEC determined that Santee Cooper is violating the S.C. Pollution Control Act because of its coal ash arsenic pollution at Grainger.
more »
By David Wren/The Sun News
Conway’s Waccamaw River Walk
May 6, 2013
Conway, S.C. — The Conway City Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution opposing any plan by state-owned utility Santee Cooper to leave coal ash and its residual pollution – including groundwater contaminated with arsenic – at the site of the idled Grainger electric plant adjacent to the Waccamaw River here.
“This is not an attack on Santee Cooper, but this is toxic waste that needs to be removed from our back yard,” said City Councilman Tom Anderson, who urged other council members and the public to call the utility’s board of directors to voice opposition to any proposal that would leave the coal ash in place. “We don’t need this here.”
Santee Cooper, which owns the Grainger plant, has proposed combining two coal ash ponds on the property into one pond and then encasing the pollution within a cement-fortified vault topped with a synthetic cap. The utility says leaving the coal ash in place will cost about $40 million – nearly half the estimated $78 million it would cost to haul the coal ash to an off-site, lined landfill.
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Citizens concerned about the future of coal ash at the Grainger Generating station gave comments at a public hearing on April, 23, 2013
By Brad Dickerson/The Sun News
April 24, 2013
Conway, S.C. — There was an overriding theme among community members who spoke Tuesday night at a meeting to discuss a proposed plan to enclose the coal ash ponds at the now-closed Grainger electric plant:
Haul the stuff away instead.
They were not convinced by Santee Cooper, which wants to permanently encase the coal ash ponds in a cement-fortified vault capped with a synthetic liner that is designed to prevent contaminants, including arsenic, from seeping into nearby groundwater.
More than 70 people turned out for the nearly two-hour public comment meeting.
Michael Corley, with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, said Conway will continue to change and evolve over the years, but the coal ash will be a permanent fixture in the downtown area, potentially polluting the nearby Waccamaw River.
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Submit your public comments opposing Santee Cooper’s coal ash closure plans by May 9, 2013.
By Sue Sturgis/Institute for Southern Studies
April 16, 2013–A national water protection advocacy group has released its annual list of the 10 most endangered U.S. rivers, and it includes four in the South at risk from coal and poor water management.
Coming in as the second-most endangered on American Rivers’ list, following the drought-stricken Colorado, is the Flint River in Georgia, which is imperiled by outdated management. The Flint provides water for over 1 million people and 10,000 farms, but it’s going dry to excessive agricultural withdrawals and increasing municipal demands.
“Despite being in a historically wet are of the country,” American Rivers says, “in recent years many Flint River tributaries dried up completely.” The group calls on the state of Georgia to take action to better protect the Flint, particularly during droughts.
The third-most endangered river is the San Saba in Texas, also at risk from excessive agricultural withdrawals.”Through wasteful water use and unregulated pumping, irrigators are transforming a vibrant, pristine river into a dried up riverbed,” according to American Rivers. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality should enforce existing laws to protect the San Saba, the group says, and the Texas legislature should appoint a watermaster on the river’s upper stretch to better manage flows.
Coming in at fifth-most endangered, after the fourth-place Little Plover in Wisconsin, is the Catawba River, which runs through the Carolinas. The risk to the Catawba is toxic coal ash from Duke Energy’s Riverbend power plant near Charlotte, N.C. The ash is stored in massive ponds that are leaking pollution into the waterway.
“North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources must require Duke Energy’s Riverbend power plant to ensure the coal ash ponds are sufficiently maintained in perpetuity to safeguard the river and water supply for future generations,” American Rivers says.
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9/15/2010- 60 Minutes Video: 130 Million Tons of Waste
11/6/2011- Scientific American Podcast: Buried in Coal Ash?
6/28/2012- Environmental Integrity Report: New EPA Data Show Coal Ash Problem Much Worse
7/5/2012- Rachel Maddow Show segment: Big Sister Steamed Bun
