CLEAN WATER FUND | CLEAN WATER ACTION
coal ash threatens our health
and environment
Coal ash — a dirty secret of the energy industry —
is contaminating our water with toxic chemicals
what is coal ash?
Coal combustion residuals, more commonly known as coal ash, are the waste byproduct of coal fired power
plants. Coal ash residuals include fly ash — the fine, powdery particles that float up the smoke stack and are
captured by pollution control devices — and bottom ash — the coarse, heavier materials that fall to the bottom of the furnace. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 140 million tons of
coal ash1 is produced annually, making it the second largest waste stream in the United States,
yet it has never been subject to federal protections. State laws
governing coal ash disposal are weak or non-existent. Household garbage
is better regulated than coal ash, which contains heavy metals that can be
hazardous to humans and the environment.
where does all this waste go?
Coal ash is stored in nearly 1,000 disposal sites scattered throughout the
country. More than a third of all coal ash is ultimately disposed in dry
landfills, frequently onsite at the power plant where the coal is burned.
Another fifth of coal ash is mixed with water and stored in ponds behind
earthen dam walls. Because of lack of safeguards, some storage ponds are
nothing more than unlined earthen pits that can be as large as 1,500 acres. The electric power industry claims
that over forty percent of coal ash is recycled for “beneficial use” but that figure is misleading and ignores the
threat of water contamination from reckless reuse practices. Much of the supposedly “recycled” coal ash is simply dumped into abandoned mines or quarries, and the National Academy of Sciences has recommended that
EPA propose regulations to protect water supplies from this practice.2 Researchers at the University at the California at Berkeley have estimated that approximately 25% of coal ash can be recycled safely and beneficially.3
what is in this toxic brew ?
Coal ash contains a variety of concentrated heavy metals, including many known carcinogenic and neurotoxic
chemicals. While the characteristics of coal ash vary depending on where the coal is mined, it typically contains arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury and selenium. Arsenic is particularly toxic and
is also one of the heavy metals most commonly found in coal ash. People who use water from a well near an
unlined coal ash pond have a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer from drinking water contaminated with arsenic.4
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coal ash and water contamination
When coal ash comes into contact with water, the toxic metals can leach, or dissolve, contaminating nearby
ground and surface waters. At least 137 cases of water contamination from coal ash have been documented by
EPA and environmental organizations, though since most disposal sites are not monitored, the actual number
of water contamination occurrences could be much higher.5 Unlined wet storage ponds have the highest
potential to contaminate nearby ground or surface waters, but unstable coal ash dams also pose a hazard. The
most famous incident of water contamination from coal ash is the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant cataclysmic
disaster in Harriman, TN. Three days before Christmas, a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash dam
broke, spewing 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash into the nearby Clinch and Emory rivers,
destroying three homes and damaging dozens of others. Though the largest known
spill to date, the Kingston disaster was not an isolated incident; since 2002, millions of
gallons of toxic coal slurry have been released into surface and drinking water sources
in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Alabama.6
Dramatic events like the Kingston disaster earn national media attention, but across
the country, toxic metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury are seeping from unlined
and unmonitored coal ash ponds into drinking water supplies and streams.
strong federal regulations needed
Though the EPA has long recognized the potential hazards from coal ash, there have
never been federal regulations to ensure its safe disposal.7 EPA has the authority
to phase out the use of unstable wet ponds and to require minimum
safeguards to protect human health and the environment from coal ash. The majority of states
do not require even basic safeguards such as pond liners or groundwater monitoring, and states such as
Texas, the 2nd largest producer of coal ash in the country, exempt the disposal of most coal ash from state
laws.8 Worse, the majority of coal ash produced in the top 25 coal consuming states is allowed to be dumped
directly into ground water tables.9 Coal ash disposal is a national problem that requires a national
solution.
For more information visit: www.cleanwater.org
U.S. EPA. Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System; Identification and Listing of Special Waste; Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities. Proposed Rule, June 21, 2010. Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 118, page 35211. Available at:
http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/ccr-rule/index.htm
1
National Research Council, Managing Coal Combustion Residuals in Mines, 2006, pages 11-12.
2
University of California at Berkeley Professor Comments on EPA’s Proposed Coal Ash Rule: http://www.uswag.org/pdf/2010/CCR%20
Comments/UCalBerkely112010.pdf
3
U.S. EPA, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment of Coal Combustion Wastes, RIN 2050-AE81 April 2010, pages 4-7.
4
Appalachian Voices and Earthjustice, State of Failure: How States Fail to Protect Our Drinking Water From Toxic Coal Ash, August 2011,
page 5 and Appendix 1: http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/StateOfFailure-Appendix-1_137-Damage-Cases.pdf
5
Appalachian Voices and Earthjustice, State of Failure:How States Fail to Protect Our Drinking Water From Toxic Coal Ash, August 2011,
pages 4-5.
6
Environmental Integrity Project, Coming Clean: What the EPA Knows About the Dangers of Coal Ash, June 2009: http://earthjustice.org/
sites/default/files/library/reports/final-coming-clean-ejeip-report-20090507.pdf
7
Appalachian Voices and Earthjustice, State of Failure:How States Fail to Protect Our Drinking Water From Toxic Coal Ash, August 2011,
pages 19-20.
8
DPRA Incorporated, Estimation of Costs for Regulating Fossil Fuel Combustion Ash Management at Large Electric Utilities under Part 258,
prepared for U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste, November 30, 2005, page 39
9