Ash and Sludge Cover Tennessee Town
Instead of a white Christmas, some folks in Kingston, Tennessee got an ash and sludge covered Christmas Eve this year. Coal ash (compacted ash is pictured in the photo at right) is a byproduct of the combustion process that makes energy out of coal. The companies that produce the energy-- and the accompanying waste--have to find somewhere to store the fly ash. Often it is held behind dams, berms, or other holding devices. Yesterday, some of this ash (300 million gallons of the stuff, according to the New York Times) broke free of its dam at the Kingston Fossil Plant. It knocked at least one home off of its foundation, and left a sludge several feet deep across one section of town.
Could anyone have seen this coming? Well, yes-- environmentalists have been working to have fly ash regulated more strictly for a while now.
But that has not yet happened, although the EPA has partnered with the American Coal Ash association to promote the beneficial uses of "Coal Combustion Products." It seems that it would be difficult for a regulatory agency like the EPA to simultaneously promote beneficial use of a substance and consider its potential hazards to human health. Hmmm...
Though the Tennessee Valley Authority has so far said that this sludge is not toxic, and though the EPA has not yet declare fly ash hazardous, Scientific American has said that coal ash can be many times more radioactive than the byproducts of nuclear energy production. There's a lot still to be determined about the hazards of the stuff, but I can assure you I would not want several feet of it in my living room.
Instead of relaxing at Christmas, a lot of people in this part of Tennessee are worrying about the potential health effects of the ash covering their neighborhood.
Though the Tennessee Valley Authority has so far said that this sludge is not toxic, and though the EPA has not yet declare fly ash hazardous, Scientific American has said that coal ash can be many times more radioactive than the byproducts of nuclear energy production. There's a lot still to be determined about the hazards of the stuff, but I can assure you I would not want several feet of it in my living room.
Instead of relaxing at Christmas, a lot of people in this part of Tennessee are worrying about the potential health effects of the ash covering their neighborhood.
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