Feb 16 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Ken Ward Jr. The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.



Gov. Joe Manchin is cautioning the Obama administration against "jumping to classify coal ash" as a hazardous waste, siding with power companies who are opposed to the action being considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Late last week, Manchin's office issued a commentary under the governor's byline. The piece is headlined, "Coal ash a beneficial resource if safety concerns are put first."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose new federal rules that would designate coal ash -- a byproduct of using coal to generate electricity -- as a 'hazardous' waste," the commentary said. "Such a decision would cause significant economic and environmental damage and I implore the EPA to evaluate the facts about coal ash recycling before making a decision."

EPA has been studying coal ash -- and considering whether it should be more strictly regulated -- since at least 1980, when Congress blocked the agency from designating power plant ash as hazardous until such a detailed study was completed.

 Coal-fired power plants generate more than 130 million tons of various ash wastes every year. The numbers have been increasing as more plants install scrubbers and other equipment that control air pollution, but shifts the toxic leftovers from burning coal into ash and other wastes. By 2015, the annual amount of coal ash generated at U.S. plants is expected to increase to 175 million tons, a jump of more than a third.

But despite years of study -- and prodding by Congress and the National Academy of Sciences -- there are still no federal standards for coal-ash waste disposal or construction of dams at coal-ash impoundments. The Clinton administration had moved to take action, but backed off under industry pressure; the issue died under the Bush administration. Instead of federal rules, the nation relies on a patchwork set of state programs that vary in terms of their standards and their level of enforcement.

Coal ash issues landed back on the front burner in December 2008, when a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-ash impoundment failed, sending more than a billion gallons of coal ash -- containing an estimated 2.9 million pounds of toxic pollutants -- into nearby streams, fields and homes.

Soon after taking office, the Obama administration promised to propose new regulations on coal-ash handling and disposal by the end of 2009. In December, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson delayed that proposal, amid increasing pressure from utilities and the coal industry.

In his commentary, Manchin cited utility lobby group arguments that much of the nation's coal ash is currently recycled into various useful products, such as gypsum wallboards and roof shingles.

"Coal fly ash has many beneficial uses and deeming it a 'hazardous waste' could have devastating consequences on industries that use this product, and on the families who rely on the jobs related to coal combustion products," Manchin said.

More than half of the coal ash generated nationally goes into impoundments or landfills, many of which are unlined and many of which EPA has not examined in any detail for stability or pollution problems.

In West Virginia, most of the coal-ash dams were not inspected by Department of Environmental Protection officials for at least five years. After the TVA disaster, when the DEP launched an inspection sweep, it found problems at nearly two-thirds of them -- and also discovered two impoundments it didn't know existed.

An EPA report made public last May concluded that residents near coal-ash dumps could have as much as a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer from drinking water contaminated with arsenic. Another EPA study, issued in October, reported that coal-ash pollution of water is "of particular concern" because of the large quantities and high concentrations of toxic materials involved.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.

(c) 2010, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services