Coal Ash Reconsidered

Coal Ash Reconsidered

November 09, 2009

Ken Silverstein
EnergyBiz Insider
Editor-in-Chief

Coal combustion waste may be reclassified as a hazardous waste. That's a significant change from its current categorization as a solid waste, which has created a secondary market for the byproduct in recycling circles.

The investigations into coal ash have been ongoing but the pace has picked up over the last year after a retention wall broke, allowing 5.4 million yards of yuck to escape into the Tennessee Valley Authority's territories. So, after years of checking it out, the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is likely to act by year-end to reclassify it, noting that increasing evidence exists to suggest that coal ash adversely affects human health and the environment.

"Pollutants in coal combustion wastewater are of particular concern because they can occur in large quantities and at high concentrations in discharges and leach into groundwater and surface waters," says EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The controversy surrounding coal combustion byproducts is not new. In 2000 the EPA determined there would be a need for national regulations to deal with such "waste," saying that it could pose serious health effects and that viable pollution controls may be currently lacking. The most recent report comes after the EPA collected data from about 600 coal-fired units -- an examination that found aging retention walls, inadequately lined ponds and lax safety enforcements.

While it is unclear exactly what steps the EPA will take, the agency has said it would give each facility a rating. That score will not be based on the structural fitness of each site; rather, it will be determined by the potential loss of human life if the foundation were to fail. High risks sites would get immediate attention and become publicly known.

Coal waste now falls under the guidelines set for non-municipal, non-hazardous waste. The rules governing its disposal are vague, allowing the substance to be regulated by the state that establishes the appropriate rules for each site. At present, most such waste is buried in landfills. But promising technologies now exist that allow it to be converted into other, more useful products such as cement and concrete.

According to the American Coal Ash Association, which promotes the use of coal combustion products, coal ash does not cause any adverse environmental issues if it is properly handled. In 2006, it says that about 124 million tons of coal combustion byproducts were produced and about 54 million tons of that were used beneficially in this country.

"As we all become more sensitive to the need for widely sustainable practices, coal combustion byproducts can contribute directly to this effort by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving natural resources and avoiding the need for additional landfill space through sound technical and environmental management practices -- including beneficial use and recycling," says David Goss, former executive director of the ACAA.

Warning Shots

The utility industry says that it has heard the warning shots that have been fired after the collapse of TVA's retention wall. While it is open to having national policymakers close the loopholes in their local rules, companies believe strongly that the states are closer to the issues when it comes to regulating their facilities.

Utilities say that their sites are designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with prudent engineering practices and that those impoundments are routinely inspected. If any impairment is discovered, it is then remedied. They, generally, are placing so-called synthetic liners in their ponds to help prevent leakage.

The sector furthermore emphasizes that its coal combustion byproducts are being successfully recycled into consumer products. And if the EPA were to change the status of coal ash, such uses may halt. That would in effect raise the cost of environmental protection and lead to even more pollution.

Colorado-based Sky Ute Sand and Gravel, for example, uses fly ash to replace cement in concrete. It says that not only is it cheaper than cement but it also increases its quality.

"To be sure, innovative technologies for making and delivering electricity will become more efficient and increasingly environmentally-friendly," says W. Corey Trench, principal and market strategist at Pozzi-Tech. "We would hope so. But, during the next half century of transition, let's remember that coal combustion byproduct utilization is a substantial part of the reason coal is and has been such a valuable asset to our country."

Environmentalists are skeptical. They say that the federal government is better equipped to regulate coal ash than the state utility commissions, which the groups say are beholden to the respective utilities.

In a 2007 report, EPA evaluated 85 coal ash sites out of a total of about 600. It discovered that 24 of those it had examined led to harm of human health or the environment. Another 42 cases resulted in potential damages, it concluded.

The latest EPA revelations should end the discussions over whether coal ash should be federally regulated under hazardous waste laws, says the Sierra Club. The substance, which contains arsenic and lead, seeps into the groundwater and harms drinking supplies.

"We know that the cancer risk of people living coal ash sites can be as high as 1 in 50," says Mary Anne Hitt, a deputy director with the Sierra Club. "And we know that scrubber sludge filled with heavy metals too often is dumped into rivers without any real treatment."

The Obama administration appears poised to diverge from that of its predecessor, which decided to stay out of the fight over how to classify coal ash and to leave it entirely to the states. If the feds now take on a greater role, utility operations may be fundamentally altered as the stigma attached to coal ash would effectively end its secondary use.