Coal Ash Series
Written by Bill Chameides
Tennessee Coal Ash Contaminated With Radioactivity, Arsenic
Jan 29, 2009
Remember that huge spill of coal ash at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired power plant on December 22nd? New measurements by Duke University scientists confirm not only the presence of toxic metals like arsenic but also dangerous levels of radioactivity. Read post »
Statistically Speaking - Coal Waste: What's It Good For?
Jan 30, 2009
As we’ve seen from recent catastrophic spills at coal plants in Harriman, Tennessee, and Widows Creek, Alabama, it’s past time to take a closer look at how we dispose of coal waste. Read post »
Clean Coal’s Dirty Secret - When 'Clean' Isn't Clean
Feb 04, 2009
Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. Burning it produces a myriad of noxious air pollutants. That's a problem. Clean coal technology supposedly scrubs those pollutants before they get into the atmosphere. Problem gone, right? Not quite. Guess where those pollutants end up. Read post »
Did a Coal Ash Trade Group Try to Pull a Fast One?
Feb 13, 2009
Nigerian poet Ben Okri wrote, “The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our attention away from what they are really doing.” I wonder if the American Coal Ash Association had similar tricks up its sleeve with a recent graph it produced. Check it out »
Grok Image: Lake or Waste Pond? You Decide.
March 3, 2009
Here on the Grok we’ve touched on the vast quantities of waste stored at coal-fired power plants in landfills and ponds otherwise known as impoundments, but did you realize some of these ponds are visible from space? Take a look »
Finally Standards for Coal Ash … Just in Time?
March 11, 2009
In early March while the Environmental Protection Agency sought information from electric companies about their coal waste disposal practices, a new crisis was bubbling up around Maryland. It’s about time EPA acts on coal waste. But is it enough? You decide »
Update: Where Is the Coal Ash Waste Going?
July 6, 2009
They’ve finally figured out what to do with all that coal ash from the spill last December in Tennessee. Send it to a poor, primarily African-American community in Alabama. Read post »
Coal Ash Waste: Where We Are Now and Where We Still Have to Go
July 13, 2009
The Kingston coal ash spill was the spark that lit a fire under the Environmental Protection Agency to make coal ash safe. The short update: no flames, but the fire is smoldering. Read post »
