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A coal-fired power plant with ash ponds. Coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals (CCRs), is the mineral residue that remains from burning coal. Exposure to coal ash and to the toxic substances it contains may pose a health risk to workers in coal-fired power plants and residents living near coal ash disposal sites.
Groundwater surrounding every single one of the 16 coal-burning power plants in Texas has been polluted by coal ash, according to a study by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). Unsafe levels of arsenic, cobalt, lithium, and other contaminants were found in the groundwater near all the ash dump sites.
The Kingston Fossil Plant Spill was an environmental and industrial disaster that occurred on December 22, 2008, when a dike ruptured at a coal ash pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4.2 million cubic metres) of coal fly ash slurry.
EPA estimated that about 300 dry landfills and wet storage ponds are used around the country to store ash from coal-fired power plants. The storage facilities hold the noncombustible ingredients of coal, including the ash captured by equipment designed to reduce air pollution. [26] In the low-coal-content areas waste forms spoil tip. [citation ...
Such ponds are susceptible to disastrous releases, such as the Buffalo Creek flood of 1972 or the Martin County coal slurry spill of 2000, which released over 250 million gallons of coal slurry. [10] Coal slurry can contain hazardous chemicals such as arsenic and mercury and can kill aquatic wildlife, as was the case in the Martin County spill ...
There are three inactive ash basins to the west of the river further upstream. [21] These are forested, do not impound water and are normally dry. [11] The basins hold coal ash in a layer 4 to 10 feet (1.2 to 3.0 m) thick over an area of 170 acres (69 ha). [21] A Duke Energy site assessment in 2015 reported that the basins had high levels of ...
Coal ash and slag can be recognised by the presence of off-white grains in soil, gray heterogeneous soil, or (coal slag) bubbly, vesicular pebble-sized grains. Treated sewage sludge, known in the industry as biosolids, has become controversial as a "fertilizer". As it is the byproduct of sewage treatment, it generally contains more contaminants ...
Coal contains trace levels of arsenic, barium, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, thallium, selenium, molybdenum, and mercury, many of which are highly toxic to humans and other life. Coal ash, a product of combustion, concentrates these elements and can contaminate groundwater or surface waters if there are leaks from an ash pond. [4]