Kingston+Coal+Ash+Disaster

 ** Nearly ** ** 130 million tons [130,000,000] ** **of coal ash is prod uced annually in the United States ** //[|[Environmental News.]]//

federal controls of coal ash, but backed away in the face of fierce opposition from utilities, the coal industry, and Clinton administration officials. At the time, the Edison Electric Institute, an association of power utilities, estimated that the industry would have to spend up to $5 billion in additional cleanup costs if the substances were declared hazardous. Since then, environmentalists have urged tighter federal standards, and the E.P.A. is reconsidering its decision not to classify the waste as hazardous //**// [NYTimes2]. //**// ” //**
 * So what happens to all that waste? ** ** | ** ** At the Kingston Fossil Plant in Kingston, Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA] disposed of the coal ash in a wet pond surrounded with earthen retaining walls. They did, at least, until December 22, 2008, when the failure of one of the retaining walls flooded the nearby town of Harriman with **** 5.4 million cubic yards of ash **** . That’s more than the TVA initially claimed the pond could hold, only **** 2.6 million cubic yards **// [NYTimes1]. //
 * How could this happen? ** ** | ** **// “ //****// In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed stricter


 * Presently, regulation of coal ash is delegated to the states, not by the federal government. This allows coal ash to be stored in wet ponds like in Kingston, as well as utilized as a “recycled” material to fill mines and roads, as well as in products like bowling balls, carpets, and bathroom sinks ** //[CBS].//
 * What are the risks? ** ** | ** ** Although coal ash is not presently a hazardous waste, it is being treated as if it were in the clean-up of the Kingston site. And that has town citizens questioning the TVA’s repeated claims that **** “the massive spill isn’t threatening human health ** //[NPR].// ** ” **


 * The __Survey of the Potential Environmental and Health Impacts in the Immediate Aftermath of the Coal Ash Spill in Kingston, Tennessee__, however, notes some potential environmental and health impacts of the disaster ** //[EnvironmentalScience].//**.**

o ** Sediment containing arsenic-rich fly ash could affect the food chains through fish poisoning and a decrease of benthic fauna ** o ** Coal ash contains “inhalable particulate matter” that can cause respiratory problems, as well as be transported through the atmosphere to areas outside the original disaster zone ** o ** “Coal ash was recognized as a **** Group I human carcinogen **** …associated with increased risks of skin, lung, and bladder cancers.” ** o ** Chronic ingestion or inhalation of coal ash, which contains increased levels of arsenic and radium, can also increase risks for many types of cancer, including skin, lung, liver, breast, and bone. **


 * The article also mentioned the difficulty in estimating the overall health impact on the population due to a lack of information on CCP ash resuspended particulates. Future studies would be necessary to better determine health impacts ** //[EnvironmentalScience].//**.**
 * What now? ** ** | ** ** While clean-up continues in Kingston, many groups are reviewing the events that have happened. National Geographic is looking at the effects the disaster may have on the animal population, while Greenpeace is calling for a criminal investigation of the TVA. Possibly most importantly, the EPA is reconsidering coal ash as a hazardous material. While the coal ash was localized to the area of Kingston in this incident, coal ash and coal use in general has a matrix of problems for environmental sustainability. **

** More Information? ** ** | ** ** For more information on this topic, please follow the links below. **

** WHAT IS FLY [COAL] ASH EXACTLY? **
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** EPA INFORMATION ON KINGSTON REGION **
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** GREENPEACE CALLS FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO COAL ASH SPILL **
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** THE TRUE COST OF COAL | Greenpeace **
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** WHAT ABOUT THE ANIMALS? **
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** PROBLEMS PERSIST MONTHS LATER ** ** []

COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY ** ** Sarah Barnard | Spring 2010 **