Mar 01 - Tulsa World



Oklahoma asserts it already does a good job of managing coal combustion waste under existing laws, but residents who live near a fly ash disposal site are pleading for the EPA to adopt tougher standards they believe are needed to protect their health.

"There is a lot of respiratory illness and cancer," said Bokoshe resident Susan Holmes in a conference call last year to the Office of Management and Budget, which conducts the regulatory review.

"There are approximately 15 households within two miles to the north and east of the dump and 14 of them have cancer."

The Bokoshe residents' main complaints are the dust that billows from the site and water pollution, both of which have been documented in violations issued to Making Money Having Fun's Thumbs Up Ranch ash disposal site near Bokoshe.

 Records show the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality cited the company in May 2009 for violating air quality laws in its seven years of operation.

The DEQ memo states that the company failed to submit an emission inventory, failed to apply for a construction permit, failed to apply for an operating permit, failed to obtain a construction permit and failed to take reasonable precautions to minimize pollution.

Trucking companies transport fly ash from the nearby AES Shady Point coal-fired plant to the company's land where it is dumped into an old strip-mining pit.

"MMHF is not taking reasonable precautions to minimize pollution, the water truck was not in operation when the inspectors arrived at the site, and when in operation, the water truck was not watering the driveway to the truck unloading area enough to control the dust," the DEQ memo states.

Ken Jackson, one of the owners, said that as a result of the air violations, the company installed an enclosure to reduce dust.

"We had to do something," he said.

Video taken

Tim Tanksley shot a video in January from his neighbor Herman "Dub" Tolbert's property, which sits adjacent to the fly ash pit. Tanksley said the enclosure was an improvement, but his video shows that fly ash is still leaving the site off the permitted areas.

Other owners of the company are listed as Kevin Jackson, Chad Jackson, Daryl Jackson and Mark Jackson, records show.

"I'm curious what community they'd like it to go to," Ken Jackson said of the fly ash. "I suppose when they're ready they'll file a lawsuit. This town's had a lot of problems. Fly ash is not one of them."

The fly ash is released through a grate and mixed with salt water from oil and gas wells in Arkansas, which until recently, was also transported to the site.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a cessation order against the company in December after inspectors found Buck Creek to be contaminated with large amounts of salts.

The company was ordered to cease accepting shipments of water produced from oil and gas wells, mostly from Arkansas.

The company was allowed, however, to continue accepting fly ash and using the water available on-site to dampen the ash.

Jackson said the water the EPA looked at doesn't come from his pit.

"That comes from 30 years ago -- old coal companies stripping here," he said.

A proposal to designate fly ash as hazardous waste gained steam following the fly ash spill in December 2008 at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant near Knoxville, Tenn. An estimated 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge was released, damaging more than two dozen homes.

'Robust regulatory scheme'

In May 2009, Oklahoma was one of many states, including Arkansas and Colorado, sending letters to the EPA urging caution in implementing regulations they asserted could have unintended consequences.

Scott Thompson, director of the land protection division for the DEQ, said in the letter that the agency believed fly ash was adequately managed under existing state law and solid waste regulations.

"Oklahoma has a robust regulatory scheme to handle coal combustion waste, whether disposed or recycled, and we do not feel that further federal regulation is prudent or necessary," Thompson said in the letter.

The letter blames the Tennessee spill on an engineering failure unrelated to the potential hazards of coal combustion waste.

" We cannot support imposing greater regulations on an already- properly-managed material because of an environmental disaster that seems to be completely unrelated to the material," Thompson said in the letter.

The letter mentions beneficial uses of coal ash in making cement, solidification/chemical fixation, soil stabilization and road base material as opposed to landfill disposal.

It also considers the handling of coal ash at the Bokoshe site a beneficial use as a mine reclamation project under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Department of Mines.

Thompson said it greatly reduces sinking concerns for underground mines and designating fly ash as a hazardous waste would result in more landfill disposal.

"Imposing additional regulations on coal combustion waste may drastically reduce these alternative uses due to the fear of potential liability arising from the reuse of a material to which the 'hazardous waste' stigma is attached," Thompson wrote.

Harlan Hentges, an attorney representing Bokoshe residents, said in a November letter to Gov. Brad Henry that the department of mines has not required the company to reclaim the pit.

"Instead, Oklahoma Department of Mines is allowing MMHF to build a pyramid of fly ash reaching more than 50 feet above the surface of the surrounding land," Hentges said.

The department of mines cited the company for failing to submit documentation on the components of the Arkansas water. One inspection report noted that, "There are no interstate transport limitations or agreements to move such production water across state lines."

Residents critical

Bokoshe residents have been critical of state agencies' handling of the fly ash operation. They also charge that U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., are working against them.

Inhofe spokesman Matt Dempsey said the senator's office has been monitoring the situation, but was unaware that Bokoshe residents are upset with the senator.

He said they will send a Senate staffer from the Committee on Environment and Public Works to arrange a meeting.

"We take our constituent work very seriously," Dempsey said.

Boren released a statement saying that his office had been contacted by various parties in connection with the case.

"We have taken no official action other than to check with the EPA on their status for the case. We are still reviewing the facts associated with the issue," Boren said.

Inhofe is among a bipartisan group of 25 senators who signed a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson opposing the designation of fly ash as a hazardous waste and favoring state regulation.

Records show the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality cited the company in May 2009 for violating air quality laws in its seven years of operation.

The DEQ memo states that the company failed to submit an emission inventory, failed to apply for a construction permit, failed to apply for an operating permit, failed to obtain a construction permit and failed to take reasonable precautions to minimize pollution.

Trucking companies transport fly ash from the nearby AES Shady Point coal-fired plant to the company's land where it is dumped into an old strip-mining pit.

"MMHF is not taking reasonable precautions to minimize pollution, the water truck was not in operation when the inspectors arrived at the site, and when in operation, the water truck was not watering the driveway to the truck unloading area enough to control the dust," the DEQ memo states.

Ken Jackson, one of the owners, said that as a result of the air violations, the company installed an enclosure to reduce dust.

"We had to do something," he said.

Video taken

Tim Tanksley shot a video in January from his neighbor Herman "Dub" Tolbert's property, which sits adjacent to the fly ash pit. Tanksley said the enclosure was an improvement, but his video shows that fly ash is still leaving the site off the permitted areas.

Other owners of the company are listed as Kevin Jackson, Chad Jackson, Daryl Jackson and Mark Jackson, records show.

"I'm curious what community they'd like it to go to," Ken Jackson said of the fly ash. "I suppose when they're ready they'll file a lawsuit. This town's had a lot of problems. Fly ash is not one of them."

The fly ash is released through a grate and mixed with salt water from oil and gas wells in Arkansas, which until recently, was also transported to the site.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a cessation order against the company in December after inspectors found Buck Creek to be contaminated with large amounts of salts.

The company was ordered to cease accepting shipments of water produced from oil and gas wells, mostly from Arkansas.

The company was allowed, however, to continue accepting fly ash and using the water available on-site to dampen the ash.

Jackson said the water the EPA looked at doesn't come from his pit.

"That comes from 30 years ago -- old coal companies stripping here," he said.

A proposal to designate fly ash as hazardous waste gained steam following the fly ash spill in December 2008 at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant near Knoxville, Tenn. An estimated 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge was released, damaging more than two dozen homes.

'Robust regulatory scheme'

In May 2009, Oklahoma was one of many states, including Arkansas and Colorado, sending letters to the EPA urging caution in implementing regulations they asserted could have unintended consequences.

Scott Thompson, director of the land protection division for the DEQ, said in the letter that the agency believed fly ash was adequately managed under existing state law and solid waste regulations.

"Oklahoma has a robust regulatory scheme to handle coal combustion waste, whether disposed or recycled, and we do not feel that further federal regulation is prudent or necessary," Thompson said in the letter.

The letter blames the Tennessee spill on an engineering failure unrelated to the potential hazards of coal combustion waste.

" We cannot support imposing greater regulations on an already- properly-managed material because of an environmental disaster that seems to be completely unrelated to the material," Thompson said in the letter.

The letter mentions beneficial uses of coal ash in making cement, solidification/chemical fixation, soil stabilization and road base material as opposed to landfill disposal.

It also considers the handling of coal ash at the Bokoshe site a beneficial use as a mine reclamation project under the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Department of Mines.

Thompson said it greatly reduces sinking concerns for underground mines and designating fly ash as a hazardous waste would result in more landfill disposal.

"Imposing additional regulations on coal combustion waste may drastically reduce these alternative uses due to the fear of potential liability arising from the reuse of a material to which the 'hazardous waste' stigma is attached," Thompson wrote.

Harlan Hentges, an attorney representing Bokoshe residents, said in a November letter to Gov. Brad Henry that the department of mines has not required the company to reclaim the pit.

"Instead, Oklahoma Department of Mines is allowing MMHF to build a pyramid of fly ash reaching more than 50 feet above the surface of the surrounding land," Hentges said.

The department of mines cited the company for failing to submit documentation on the components of the Arkansas water. One inspection report noted that, "There are no interstate transport limitations or agreements to move such production water across state lines."

Residents critical

Bokoshe residents have been critical of state agencies' handling of the fly ash operation. They also charge that U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., are working against them.

Inhofe spokesman Matt Dempsey said the senator's office has been monitoring the situation, but was unaware that Bokoshe residents are upset with the senator.

He said they will send a Senate staffer from the Committee on Environment and Public Works to arrange a meeting.

"We take our constituent work very seriously," Dempsey said.

Boren released a statement saying that his office had been contacted by various parties in connection with the case.

"We have taken no official action other than to check with the EPA on their status for the case. We are still reviewing the facts associated with the issue," Boren said.