EPA defines classification of fly ash from coal fired power plants

Dec 31 - Forexpros

A by-product of coal fired electric production is a product known as fly ash.

Recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report on containment of fly ash and classified it in the same disposal category as household trash, as a non-hazardous industrial solid waste product, with enforcement of rules about disposal mostly left to states and local governments, officials said.

According to an EPA announcement on Dec. 24 , it has been assessing the structural integrity of coal ash ponds across the nation as part of its response to the December 2008 coal ash spill from a Tennessee Valley Authority facility in Kingston, Tenn.

According to the EPA , it has conducted structural integrity assessments for more than 400 coal ash ponds at 196 coal-fired power plants.

Environmental groups sued the EPA to announce final rules, with a Dec. 19 deadline.

On the day the announcement was made, Dec. 19 , U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio , toured the DP&L Killen Station plant in Manchester, Ohio . As of July, EPA listed it as one of 45 plants nationwide with a high hazard potential for the damage that could happen if a pond containment system failed.

Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative plants in northern Kentucky were not on the high risk list.

During his visit, Wenstrup learned about the plant's daily operations and the effects EPA regulations are having on the local coal industry.

“Our country has been blessed with an abundance of coal,” said Wenstrup. “Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has pushed countless policies aimed at killing coal over the last several years, meaning more uncertainty for Ohio businesses.”

According to DP&L officials, Killen Station is already using lined holding ponds, which was on the EPA list of recommendations for preventing leaks from the ponds into bodies of water, and has a monitoring system to watch for potential seepage from any of the ponds.

Both area DP&L plants, Killen and Stuart stations are adjacent to the Ohio River and tributaries which feed into it.

Despite the environmental group pressure, the rules dont regulate coal ash disposal as tightly as environmental and community groups had wanted.

The EPA rules call for the closure of active surface ponds and landfills which fail to meet engineering and structural standards, and require regular inspections of the structural integrity of surface ponds at active sites, as well as monitoring and cleanup of unlined surface ponds which are leaking into groundwater.

New surface ponds will not be built in sensitive areas such as wetlands and earthquake zones, and will require the ponds be lined, officials said.

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