Senator asks EPA to hold coal ash hearing in Tenn.

Senator asks EPA to hold coal ash hearing in Tenn.

Sept. 2

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold one of the hearings scheduled on new rules proposed to handle coal ash in Kingston.
"The Kingston spill dumped 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash in Roane County and may cost TVA ratepayers as much as $1.2 billion in cleanup costs. Having hearings on coal ash without asking Tennesseans what they think would be like having hearings on Katrina without asking people in New Orleans what they think or on the oil spill without asking people who live on the Gulf what they think," said Alexander.
After a coal ash impoundment pond failed at the Tennessee Valley Authority´s Kingston Fossil Fuel plant in December 2008, the EPA began looking at storage and handling of coal ash at the nation´s coal-burning power plants. The agency is currently considering new regulations on the handling of coal ash as either non-hazardous or "special" waste for purposes of storage and recycling.
The Senator also asked the EPA to extend its public comment period beyond the Sept. 20 deadline.
Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Amanda Smith-Teutsch at 330-865-6166 or asmith-teutsch@crain.com

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