Coal Ash

Coal ash is contaminating water with toxic chemicals
The dirty secret of the energy industry is coming to light

Contact

Mary-Stuart Torbeck Senior Organizer Phone: 804-225-9113 Ex. 1004 Email: mary-stuart.torbeck[at]sierraclub.org

WHAT IS COAL ASH?

Coal ash is toxic waste produced by coal-burning power plants. Every year these plants burn more than 800 million tons of coal, producing at least 140 million tons of coal ash. Coal ash is the second largest waste stream in the United States. Virginia’s laws governing coal ash disposal are weak — household garbage is better regulated.

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 one of the most common contaminants 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.

WHERE DOES ALL THIS WASTE GO?

According to the Virginia Department of Environment (VDEQ), there are twelve active coal ash ponds and eight active coal ash landfills in Virginia. Eight additional large coal ash ponds in Virginia are no longer being used for ash disposal but sit, full of toxic sludge, on Virginia’s waterways. They pose a significant hazard to health and the environment. These coal ash ponds are often unlined, unstable, unmonitored and next to rivers like the Potomac or James or other surface waters.

COAL ASH AND WATER CONTAMINATION

When coal ash comes into contact with water, the toxic heavy metals can leach, or dissolve, contaminating nearby ground and surface waters. Over 200 cases of water contamination from coal ash have been document by EPA and environmental organizations. As most disposal sites are not monitored, the actual number of water contamination occurrences could be much higher. Dumping coal ash has come at a high price to Virginia’s treasured natural resources. Coal ash has landed two contaminated sites on the federal Superfund list, including one on the Superfund National Priority List, which comprises the nation’s most toxic and dangerous hazardous waste sites.

At six other sites, coal ash severely contaminated ground water and air or damaged ecosystems, and the sites include the second largest coal ash spill in U.S. history. Unlined wet storage ponds have the highest potential to contaminate nearby ground or surface waters, but unstable coal ash dams also pose a hazard. At the Possum Point Power Station in Northern Virginia’s Prince William County, three coal ash ponds leaked contaminated wastewater into nearby Quantico Creek, and another two ponds EPA rated as “significant hazards” — meaning pond failure would cause economic loss and environmental damage — contaminated groundwater with cadmium and nickel. 

The disaster on the Dan River revealed the vulnerability of Virginia citizens. While most of the post-spill media coverage focused on North Carolina, Virginia communities suffered the majority of the harm from the 2014 spill. 39,000 tons of toxic ash and 24 million gallons of wastewater were released, yet Duke Energy removed only 2,500 tons of ash, leaving over 90 percent of the coal ash in Virginia waters. 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.

STATE REGULATIONS DO NOT PROTECT VIRGINIANS FROM TOXIC COAL ASH

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality does not require consistent monitoring of water supplies near coal ash dumps. And the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the agency responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of coal ash dams, did not require annual inspections of decades-old coal ash dams until 2012. Despite the abundant evidence of groundwater contamination from coal ash in Virginia and the long history of spills and mismanagement of dams, weak state regulations heighten the risk of future harm by failing to:

• prohibit coal ash dumping directly into drinking water aquifers;
• mandate liners, covers, and groundwater monitoring at all coal ash ponds;
• require monitoring for all common coal ash pollutants;
• require adequate control of fugitive dust;
• protect groundwater after the closure of ponds and landfills by requiring clean closure rather than “cap in place”;
• require critical safeguards when old and dangerous dumps are expanded;
• require adequate safety inspections of dangerous coal ash ponds;
• establish specific standards for structural stability of ponds;
• Provide for long-term maintenance and monitoring of coal ash storage facilities;
• and require safeguards for coal ash reuse projects to prevent release of toxic pollutants.