Nearly 100 coal ash dumps across the United
States pose an environmental threat equal or greater to the Tennesse Vally Authority’s (TVA) pollution storage site that spilled a billion gallons of toxic sludge last month, according to a report released by environmentalists.
The report by the nonprofit
Environmental Integrity Project (EIP)claims these sites are largely unmonitored for safety risks and have a place on one or more of the “worst site”
lists for six toxic metals, including arsenic and lead.
In the case of deadly arsenic, which has
been detected in water polluted by the TVA site disaster in Tennessee, the Stanton Energy Facility in
Orlando, FL., has reported dumping roughly 10 times more of the carcinogen in its site between 2000-2006 than the TVA did over the same period in its now ruptured Harriman, TN storage pond site.
According to the EIP analysis, at least 20 coal pollution dump sites reported more arsenic in coal ash
impoundments than the Kingston site.
The TVA’s now-notorious pollution storage site, was found by EIP to be on five of the six
toxic chemical lists for the 50 worst coal-fired power plant pollution “wet dumps.”
A total of five
comparable disposal sites showed up on all six of the six worst-site lists for the toxic metals: TVA
Widows Creek Fossil Plant, Jackson, AL; Duke Energy Gibson Generating Station, Gibson, IN; Georgia
Power Scherer Steam Electric Generating Plant, Juliette, GA; Kentucky Utilities Co Ghent Station, Ghent,
KY.; and Louisville Gas & Electric Co. – Mill Creek Station, Louisville, KY.
Using industry-reported data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Reporting
Inventory (TRI) data system for 2000-2006 (the latter being the most recent year for which complete data
is available), EIP looked at the presence of arsenic, chromium, lead, nickel, selenium and thallium in the
waste at Tennessee-style pollution dumping sites across the nation.
The EPA has determined that these
“surface impoundment” ponds (also known as “wet dumps”) are the most likely storage sites to leak
pollution into groundwater and surface water, even without a catastrophic failure such as the one before
Christmas at the TVA’s Kingston Steam Plant.
The EIP analysis shows that a total of 13 states were found to have at least three coal-fired power plant
“surface impoundment” dumping sites on the six 50-worst toxic chemical lists
Eric Schaeffer, director, Environmental Integrity Project, said: “The Tennessee eco-disaster has cast a
spotlight on what is a very serious national problem–the existence of under-regulated toxic
pollution coal dump sites near coal-fired power plants that pose a serious threat to drinking water
supplies, rivers and streams. Our analysis confirms that this problem is truly national in scope
and that Tennessee may end up only being a warning sign of much more trouble to come. In
addition to so-called ‘surface impoundments’ in ponds, we need to be concerned about
inadequate oversight and monitoring of land-based disposal and other ‘storage’ of these toxic
wastes.”
Lisa Evans, project attorney, EarthJustice, said: “By highlighting the enormous volume of toxic
chemicals present in coal ash, which is concentrated at single dump sites throughout the U.S, the
EIP report points to the solution—federal regulations that require containment of the toxic ash “surface impoundment” dumping sites on the six 50-worst toxic chemical lists:
produced by every U.S. coal plant. Nothing less will solve this serious problem and stop the
ongoing damage to our health and environment.”
The full EIP report is available at the link below.
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