Coal Ash is a sincere and stark reality in the USA that needs NEW AND STRINGENT precedent regarding the dumping of these toxins.
Oh, yes, coal ash is very toxic, is known to be a hazard to human health and has been grossly inappropriately used as 'an agricultural additive' to soil as a supposed enhancement as a fertilizer. The "Agricultural Amendment," as it is called, is grossly inappropriate for any farmer to use, but, without proper notice of the reality of the toxins involved in this so called fertilizer they are hardly to blame.
I sincerely believe the USA has not approached this reality simply because the demands for EPA Supersites would be enormous, costly and would include the nation's farmland.
CBS did a program on this mess. It was well done and a link to an article about the topic can be found at the title to this entry. CBS's video can be found on the web. There is a link to it on You Tube.
...The problem is: (click title to entry - thank you) where do you put all that stuff? The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dumped up to 1,000 tons of coal ash every day into a wet pond near the plant, slowly amassing a waste-cake 60 feet high. Some of the ingredients, according to the EPA, were arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, cadmium and other toxic metals....
The problem is NOT where do you put the coal ash, it is how do you safeguard the public from toxins produced by an industry that does not address their responsibliites but relies on politicians to look the other way.
Coal ash has to be classified by the federal EPA as a toxic substance and the 'where do you put it' will become very clear. It will have to be handled as any other toxic substance, put in leak proof containment with preventions to protect ground water.
The fact of the matter is with growing population and increased coal ash; to 'SECURE' the population from danger is a far better idea for the USA. It is time to move away from coal powered plants that not only have to operate at lower burning temperatures to lessen emissions out of their smokestakes, but, also have to stop polluting the nation's water supply. When the Clean Air Act stopped smokestake emissions to end lung disease and water pollution of particulates in the air such as actinium (which is radioactive), borium, arsenic and acid rain; the Clear Water Act never stopped the coal ash from being dumped everywhere imaginable. The coal ash is unburned coal that contains all those toxins and more.
Power plants that burn fossil fuels are OUTDATED and UNNECESSARY and the nation has to make a commitment to the health of their people and the well being of future generations of Americans that will suffer because the Clean Water Act was not instituted regarding the dumping of coal ash and is not brought to bear when it comes to hydraulic fracturing. It is time the EPA take on their responsibility rather than leaving it up to the states, the courts and underfunded conservation groups. This is ridiculous. This problem is ancient and it is the next Superfund challenge.
