Disposal of spilled coal ash a long, winding trip
By BILL POOVEY Associated Press Writer
March 5, 2010, 8:34PM CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — More than a year after a Tennessee coal ash spill created one of the worst environmental disasters of its kind in U.S. history, the problem is seeping into several other states. It began Dec. 22, 2008, when a retaining pond burst at a coal-burning power plant, spilling 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash across 300 acres into the Emory River and an upscale shoreline community near Knoxville. It was enough ash to cover a square mile five feet deep. While the Tennessee Valley Authority’s cleanup has removed much of the ash from the river, the arsenic- and mercury-laced muck or its watery discharge has been moving by rail and truck through three states to at least six different sites. Some of it may end up as far away as Louisiana. At every stop along the route, new environmental concerns pop up. The coal-ash muck is laden with heavy metals linked to cancer, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering declaring coal ash hazardous. “I’m really concerned about my health,” said retiree James Gibbs, 53, who lives near a west-central Alabama landfill that is taking the ash. “I want to plant a garden. I’m concerned about it getting in the soil.” Gibbs said that since last summer there has been a “bad odor, like a natural gas odor.” After the spill, the TVA started sending as many as 17,000 rail carloads of ash almost 350 miles south to the landfill in Uniontown, Ala. At least 160 rail shipments have gone out from the cleanup site, said TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci. Since the EPA approved that plan, unusually heavy rain — including about 25 inches from November through February — has forced the landfill to deal with up to 100,000 gallons a day of tainted water. The landfill operators first sent it to wastewater treatment plants — a common way that landfills deal with excess liquid — in two nearby Alabama cities, Marion and Demopolis. After what the EPA calls unrelated problems with ammonia in Marion, the landfill in January started using a commercial wastewater treatment plant in Mobile, Ala., 500 miles from the original spill. A month ago, however, after a public outcry about discharging it into Mobile Bay, that company refused to take more of the landfill water. A private treatment facility in Cartersville, Ga., also briefly took some of the befouled liquid in February, although Georgia environmental officials said Friday the company did not have a required state permit. …
Disposal of spilled coal ash a long, winding trip
Neighbors who live across from the Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown say they’re afraid for their health and their property. 80 year old Ruby Holmes says what should have been the best days of her life, have turned into the worst days. The landfill spans nearly a thousand acres. It was first pitched as a landfill for household garbage; now coal ash from one of the worst environmental disasters is being hauled in here and dumped everyday. It is brought by train from Kingston, Tennessee through Birmingham to Uniontown in Perry County. Residents say the coal ash should have stayed in Tennessee. The coal ash is a by product of coal fired power plants. It is a mix of arsenic, lead and other chemicals and heavy metals. Both the EPA and ADEM approved plans to dump the coal ash here, along with the Perry County Commission. Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner says the agreement has meant new jobs for the depressed area and will eventually mean about $3.5 million dollars for the county budget to use for things like infrastructure and schools. John Wathen of the environmental group Hurrican Creekkeeper in Tuscaloosa calls the dumping of coal ash in Alabama an environmental crime A lawsuit on behalf of more than 150 residents is now in the works. Even Governor Bob Riley says it may be time for the state to take a more active role in regulating big landfills. “The last thing Alabama wants is to be known as the dumping ground for the rest of the U.S.,” said Riley in an interview. CBS 42 News has tried several times to contact the owners of the Arrowhead Landfill. They have not returned our calls. The EPA is looking at regulating coal ash waste. The disaster in Kingston where a dike for a coal ash holding pond burst led to renewed focus on how coal ash is being stored and disposed of at power plants across the country. …
