Jul 31 - Omaha World-Herald

Mid-American Energy wants to build a large landfill south of Council Bluffs to store tons of coal ash that will be generated by its newest power plant unit.

The approximately 100-acre landfill would be built west of Interstate 29, on rural land between the city limits and the Mills County line.

The site is just south of the company's Bluffs power plant.

Mid-American is seeking a change in Pottawattamie County's zoning laws to permit the landfill. The company still would need a permit from the state and county.

The Pottawattamie County Board is expected to vote on the zoning issue tonight at a special board meeting. A public hearing held earlier this month was extended to today to give area residents more chance to comment.

Residents have presented the county with a petition signed by a few hundred people opposing the landfill.

The landfill technically is called a monofill because it would store only one type of material. Coal ash is described as "sand-like" and gray to tan in color.

The construction of a fourth power plant unit for the Bluffs facility will lead to more coal ash. The $1.2 billion project is scheduled to be completed next year.

The ash would travel from the power unit to the landfill on a covered conveyor belt.

Coal ash from the existing power plant units has been kept in "settling ponds," but those ponds will not be able to handle the ash from the new unit, said Matt Finnegan, supervising engineer for Mid-American.

Some of the ash from the existing units is sold as an ingredient for concrete. But Mid-American said it won't be able to sell the ash from the new unit because it will be treated with chemicals as part of emission controls.

The chemicals, which ensure that elements such as sulfur don't get into the air, change the composition of the ash.

When one of the current units is upgraded in 2008, ash from it also would go to the landfill.

The company said it will go beyond state regulations and line the landfill with a synthetic liner, on top of two feet of compacted clay. Groundwater monitoring wells would be placed around the landfill.

Sprinklers would be used to control any dust. The company said that once the ash gets wet, it forms a crust on top.

The state has issued permits for 12 such landfills, said Nina Koger, lead engineer for the Department of Natural Resources' waste management division. Mid-American also has coal landfills at Sioux City and Muscatine.

At the Sioux City landfill, hills planted with grass and trees were built around the ash piles. The ash piles, Finnegan said, are about 20 to 30 feet high.

County Board members toured the Sioux City facility July 20. Loren Knauss, chairman of the Pottawattamie County Board, said the hills concealed the ash piles until he got right up to the landfill.

Mid-American said it would build hill barriers at the Bluffs site.

If completely filled in about 30 years, the Bluffs landfill would have a maximum height of 140 feet, the company said. But representatives doubt the piles would get that high. Finnegan said the power and concrete industries will likely develop a way to reuse the treated ash.

Area resident Norm Colyer spoke against the landfill proposal at the first part of the County Board's public hearing a few weeks ago.

Colyer said he's concerned that the landfill would be an eyesore, and he asked why the material couldn't be trucked to another facility outside of Pottawattamie County.

The company says trucking the material to another site would increase area truck traffic and would be expensive.

Knauss said each option has its pros and cons. He said the county would have to consider the extra wear and tear on county roads if trucks were used to remove the ash.

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