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Kentucky Report Highlights Water Pollution Caused by Coal Combustion Waste
Case Updates:
April 27, 2010
On April 22, Sierra Club, Kentucky Waterways Alliance and Global Environmental, LLC issued a report highlighting the environmental and health problems associated with hazardous coal combustion waste in Kentucky. The report studied groundwater monitoring data for “ash ponds” and dry landfills in Kentucky and found that coal combustion waste being stored at these sites is dangerously contaminating the state’s waters. Kentucky has 44 “ash ponds,” the second most in the nation after Indiana.
Coal combustion waste is a national problem. Every year, coal plants across the country produce more than 130 million tons of waste, laden with hazardous chemicals, such as arsenic, lead, and mercury. This waste is generally stored in landfills or ponds, which are often unlined or poorly designed, and hazardous chemicals often leach into nearby waters, posing a serious threat to public health and the environment.
In addition to analyzing the negative effects that coal combustion waste has on water quality in Kentucky, the report also assessed the inadequate regulatory programs in place to control this widespread problem. Because the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not yet regulate coal combustion waste (an EPA rule is currently pending), and most states don’t fill the gap, power companies are largely free to dispose of their waste how, and where, they like.
“This report clearly demonstrates that coal combustion waste is a tremendous environmental problem,” said Craig Segall, a Sierra Club attorney who researched and helped to write the report. “From dangerous mines to polluting power plants to the inadequately regulated disposal of combustion waste, from start to finish, coal is one of the dirtiest and most dangerous ways we can produce power.”
Details and Documents:
Kentucky Report Highlights Water Pollution Caused by Coal Combustion Waste
April 22, 2010, Sierra Club et al. Press Release
Slow Motion Spills: Coal Combustion Waste and Water in Kentucky
April 22, 2010, Sierra Club et al. Report
News Articles:
LG&E ash pond leaking into Ohio River, state says
April 21, 2010 by James Bruggers, Louisville Courier-Journal
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