When I first heard about coal ash, it was because I read about an accident that occurred when a coal ash dump burst through its dam and emptied its contents into a nearby river. It contaminated nearby waterways and affected an entire community’s water supply. At that time I had no idea what a coal ash dump was or, for that matter, what coal ash was anyway. Looking into this, I found out that the power plant industry creates millions of tons of coal ash every year and has to dump this hazardous waste product someplace. As a result, they need coal ash dumps, giant impoundments holding millions of tons of material that anywhere else in the world would be called hazardous waste, but aren’t classified as such here in the U.S.    Coal ash and its disposal is not a well-known topic to most people. However, people who live near one of the known 735 giant slurry ponds or over 310 ash dump landfills, likely are already aware of the hazards associated with it. And, unfortunately, they may have been one of the thousands affected by accidents and exposure to the hazardous substances it contains.    Coal ash is the residue leftover from coal-fired power plants. According to the EPA, it is the second largest waste product in this country with over 130 million tons produced every year. Despite coal ash containing high levels of metals and toxic chemicals, the EPA after years of review decided not to regulate it as a hazardous waste. The labeling of the waste as hazardous would have made disposal costs for coal ash much higher. The decision is unsurprising as Andrew Wheeler, the current head of the EPA, is a former coal lobbyist.   Coal ash is not simply harmless leftovers from burning coal. Coal ash contains a toxic assortment of metals and chemicals known to cause a variety of health problems in people who are exposed over a period of time. The list of the toxic ingredients in coal ash include lead, mercury, and arsenic. Also found are aluminum, boron, selenium, chlorine, and barium. Known health effects from exposure to these include birth defects, cancer, heart damage, lung disease, reproductive issues, kidney disease, and others. Long-term exposure builds up the amount of these toxins in the body, slowly eating it away and causing damage. This toxic brew affects practically every part of the human body. As always, children and pregnant women are especially affected by these toxins.    Over the years, the industry has had loose regulations when any at all were enacted. Further complicating the matter, the states have much of the responsibility to handle regulation at their level. Coal states especially benefited from this arrangement. The power plant industry saved many millions of dollars not having to meet strict requirements that other industries had to when they disposed of hazardous wastes. The power plant industry was special, and politicians labeled their coal ash as “special waste.” Even though it was toxic and hazardous, the special classification gave them the freedom to dispose of millions of tons in ways they never could have if they had not been exempted from hazardous waste regulations.    With anything that is produced in such massive amounts, dealing with its disposal is an equally massive undertaking. For years, power plants simply dumped millions of pounds of coal ash slurry in unlined storage ponds or in mountainous piles. The slurry ponds ranged in sizes from a few acres to lake-sized ones held in place by simple dams.   The industry also tried to find other uses for the ash besides waste disposal. They used some very creative ways to make this toxic material appealing to other industries and have them want some too. After all, it was a “special waste.” Currently, almost half of the volume of coal ash is, as the industry puts it, “recycled.” In spite of the toxic chemicals coal ash contains, millions of pounds are used every year in making cement, gypsum board, and other building materials. It is used as a filler and binder. While some cheer the effort to use coal ash in a beneficial way, others can’t believe regulations allow the ash to be disposed of in this way. In essence, this so-called recycling is putting toxic coal ash in the walls and foundations of people’s houses.    When I took a trip to the Navajo Nation in Arizona, I could not help myself asking what they do with all the coal ash from their huge power plant. The lady we were with on our tour proudly said they used it to build their houses. I explained to our driver and the others in the vehicle with us my view of that. Our driver looked at me and said she was certain if they were using it in their houses, then it must be safe . After she made that statement, I just closed my mouth for the rest of the ride.    There are several hazards coal ash creates. The situations where thousands of people live their lives affected by it every day are almost everywhere these dumps exist.   

1. Accidents and Dam Breaks

  The favored method for coal plants is to find somebody else to take their coal ash waste and not have to deal with it. When they are able to get someone else to take it off their property, they will. When they can’t get rid of it, though, it needs to be dealt with by the plant. Considering the power industry produces an average of 130 million tons of this hazardous substance every year, this presents a few logistical problems. Instead of creating a system that handles the waste in an environmentally safe way that puts the safety of people first, the government allows the industry to dispose of it how they see best.    The coal industry long ago decided that the solution was to take the ash and create giant areas resembling huge lakes or reservoirs and just dump the waste there. After a while, in order to accomplish this, they needed a way to hold the waste in place, so they built dams. Many of the dams they built to hold back millions of gallons of toxic coal ash were made out of clay or were simple earthen barriers. These dikes and dams were doomed to fail. No long-term thought was given to the possibility of failure. It was all about cutting costs to maximize profit.    The government allowed this to continue for many years by letting the industry basically self-regulate. All of the years the industry managed to escape from public scrutiny and government oversight changed on December 22, 2008.    It was on that day the poorly constructed dam at one of the largest containment ponds in the country finally had enough and gave way. Spilling through the breach came over one billion gallons of toxic coal ash. It flooded many of the residential areas near the plant. The toxic waste eventually flowed into the nearby river, contaminating that as well. The cleanup was a massive undertaking. The cost was placed at $1.1 billion dollars, and it took over ten years to complete.    Up until this enormous disaster, the industry managed to slip through the loopholes of regulations for disposing all this toxic ash and monitoring all of the lagoons, pits, and the dams expected to contain them.    In reality, not much has changed. The industry talks about all the new ways they are protecting the environment and the groundwater such as creating more “beneficial uses” of recycling coal ash, which the industry sees as the answer for disposal. However, these improvements register more as talking points from the industry rather than real improvements with the goal of safety first. Dumping tons of toxic coal ash down mine shafts and calling it “beneficial fill” is not a solution, nor is placing it in the wall boards and concrete we use to build our home with.   

2. Contaminated Groundwater

  The contamination of groundwater is one of the most serious problems facing our country. Once a source of water becomes unsafe for use as drinking water, it takes years to restore it, if it can be at all.Today, the majority of power plants have already polluted the groundwater near them. Leaking storage ponds are the most widespread problem currently. In 2018 a study was conducted by the Environmental Integrity Project with assistance from Earthjustice. They used industry data that became available to the public for the first time in 2018 because of requirements in federal coal ash regulations issued in 2015. The report found that the groundwater near 242 of the 265 power plants with monitoring data contained unsafe levels of one or more of the pollutants in coal ash, including arsenic, a known carcinogen, and lithium, which is associated with neurological damage, among other pollutants. There was very little dispute over the findings as the chemicals found in the tests were the same as found in coal ash. There was no chance of a coincidence here at all.    For decades, the coal ash was disposed of in unlined pits and impoundments. This was exactly how toxic waste and landfills were also operated for years: dump it on the ground or find a hole to put it in.     All unlined coal ash dumps will eventually leak. This may seem like a strong claim, but the EPA stated this years ago and stands by the conclusion that all landfills eventually will leak into the environment. The U.S. Geologic Survey site corroborates this claim as well.    With nothing at all between the hazardous ash and the ground, it is only a question of how long it will be until the toxic brew reaches the groundwater underneath. Many of these ponds also leak from the side as well, running their contents into nearby streams and waterways.    In some of the worst examples of complete disregard for what the consequences could be for the water supply, some plants built their storage ponds and dumps below the water table. They actually dug down deeper than the level of the groundwater and then started throwing in their hazardous, toxic waste product to sit and mix like a soup with the groundwater sources until it all became unusable and, in many cases, untreatable.    A report issued by the EPA in 2007 detailed coal ash leaks that had contaminated groundwater. Almost 70 towns in 26 states had heavy metals in groundwater at unsafe amounts.   At a power plant near Pittsburgh in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, groundwater under the ash site had arsenic levels of 3,720 parts per million. The EPA standard is a maximum 10 parts per million. The site also showed the groundwater had lithium in it at 54 times the federal guidelines.   In Yorktown, Virginia, gravel pits were used to dump coal ash from the power plant. Over 50 homes had their water supply contaminated with arsenic, chromium, manganese, and other hazardous pollutants. The underground aquifer these homes depended on for safe drinking water is now polluted.   In Gambrills, Maryland, Constellation Energy used an old sand and gravel pit to dispose of coal ash. The unlined pit leaked toxins into the groundwater, including lithium and arsenic, among others. Multiple residential wells were impacted, and residents’ water was contaminated. Constellation Energy paid the residents $53 million in a settlement, suggesting there were some very serious health consequences the pollution caused.   In Colstrip, Montana, unsafe levels of pollutants from Colstrip Power polluted the water supply in homes nearby. The plant paid $25 million in damages and was required to provide clean water to five residents whose safe water supply was destroyed.  

3. Coal Ash as Fill Dirt

  Although the power plant industry has tried to recycle coal ash as a useful filler product, projects that actually used coal ash show just how toxic that use can be.The contaminants in the coal ash are not removed or neutralized but get transferred into whatever the new so-called beneficial use  is. Whether used in creating a golf course or, as material in making gypsum board for building, the ash contains its toxic components.    In an effort to dispose of coal ash and try to claim it was used for a beneficial purpose, Duke Energy in Virginia dumped a million and a half tons of coal ash to be used as fill for a golf course project in Chesapeake, Virginia. Over two dozen drinking water wells were contaminated with high levels of lead and arsenic.   In Pines, Indiana, coal ash was landfilled from a nearby power plant in Michigan City. The DPW used some of the ash for projects, and the coal ash was made available to residents to take and use around their homes for landscaping or other projects. Now the EPA has over a dozen homes that have tested positive for contamination, and the area where the landfill was is a Superfund site. Fill was also used in the town park, which also became a Superfund site.   The story today is no better than it was in the past. In some respects, it has become worse as the EPA is currently headed by a former coal lobbyist. In fact, in 2018 the EPA proposed many changes in the rules regulating “Coal Combustion Residuals.” Those who were informed enough to notice the vocabulary change saw this as an attempt by the industry to gut the already lax regulations. The EPA wants the states to have the power over the industry in their own state. This could result in states deciding there doesn’t even need to be any monitoring at all. At risk of editorializing, this sounds like allowing the fox to watch the chicken house.    One thing was made clear in EPA statements, though. These new changes would save the industry tens of millions of dollars in annual compliance costs. Nothing at all was said about the negative impact this will directly have on the environment and the health of people already affected by contamination and exposure to this hazardous waste product.    The problems associated with coal ash disposal and storage threaten many people’s safe drinking water supply. Collapse of dams and dikes threatens communities, streams, and rivers. Particulate matter containing high levels of toxic chemicals blows off store piles of ash and into the surrounding community to be breathed in by its residents.    If you live near one of these places coal ash is disposed of, a high level of caution is needed, especially with regards to your water supply. The government or water company may not be legally required to test for all the contaminants that you may be consuming–the laws vary from state to state. Those with private wells need even more caution about potential contamination to their water. Private wells need to be tested annually for the list of chemicals most likely found in coal ash. If you are able to place at least two miles between you and any known coal ash dumps, we highly suggest it.