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- Edgy Veggie
EPA: 584 coal ash storage sites in 35 states, including 3 in Boulder
A Tennessee plant that spilled over a billion gallons of toxic coal ash in December. Photo by the Associated Press.
The EPA has released the results from a survey of coal ash storage sites in the United States, including 35 sites operated by Xcel Energy in Colorado, three of which are in Boulder.
The survey was triggered by a disastrous spill of more than a billion gallons of toxic ash from a Tennessee coal plant last December. Here’s the full list of coal ash storage sites.
From the Associated Press:
The toxic leftovers from burning coal for power are sitting in nearly 600 sites in 35 states, according to a federal survey released Tuesday. Spills have occurred at 34 of those sites over the last decade.
Many of the spills were minor compared with the disaster that occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s power plant in Kingston, Tenn., in December. That spill, which flooded hundreds of acres of land, damaged homes and killed fish in nearby rivers, is not included in the data, although it triggered the EPA’s March request of 61 power companies for information on how they manage coal combustion waste.
The survey is the most comprehensive list to date of coal ash storage sites and includes information submitted by 219 facilities.
Read the full story from the Associated Press, or learn more about the coal ash stored in Boulder after the jump.
The survey lists 35 sites operated by Xcel in Colorado [PDF], including three at the Valmont coal plant just east of Boulder, listed as a “coal pile stormwater runoff pond,” an “east ash settling pond” and a “west ash settling pond.”
All three sites have “no hazard potential” according to the EPA.
The coal ash generated in Boulder is often sold to companies that use the material for road-surfacing projects, said plant manager Mark Fox. When the ash can’t be sold, it’s buried dry in a landfill on the premises.
Read more posts about coal on BigGreenBoulder:
 Boulderites hit coal plant where it hurts: in the air permit |
 Solar-assisted coal plant coming to Colorado |
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60 Minutes did a great piece on the Coal Ash issue that lead me to this blog post. Here's the link to watch it:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5362297n
It's a great example of how the industry is trying to "greenwash" the coal ash issue by convincing the gov't that it's "just like dirt", when it's obvious that coal ash has much more concentrated, and thus more toxic, levels of arsenic, etc. Clearly the toxic nature of the coal ash amounts to more data to support stopping the burning of coal all together.
Thanks! We watched last night.