In March, I attended a hearing at the state capitol on the coal refuse industry in Pennsylvania. Mr. George Ellis, Executive Director of ARIPPA (the Anthracite Region Independent Power Producers Association), and Mr. Sean P. Lane, General Counsel and Secretary of Olympus Power, LLC, spoke to a joint legislative committee concerning the economic and environmental benefits of Pennsylvania’s coal refuse industry.
Photo of a coal refuse disposal area from Consol Bailey Mine Complex in Richhill Township Greene County.
Collectively, they made the follow arguments in support of the industry:
- The coal refuse industry produces much-needed power for the state while remediating hazardous coal piles, which would otherwise remain neglected.
- Pennsylvania has served as a leader in the coal refuse industry since Congress passed PURPA, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, in the late 1970s. Indeed, 14 of the nation’s 18 coal refuse power plants operate in Pennsylvania, and provide high-quality jobs, especially in depressed communities.
- By removing waste coal piles, the industry mitigates water and air pollution, benefits public safety, and contributes to rising home values.
- PJM (the regional transmission organization), far from remaining a “neutral” competitive power market, illustrates how government picks “winners and losers” as the expense of the coal refuse industry.
Mr. Ellis and Lane fairly identified the magnitude of the coal refuse pile problem in Pennsylvania. Mr. Ellis cited DEP’s conservative estimate that 840 piles lie in the Commonwealth, which together pollute our land, water, and air. Action should be taken to remediate such sites, and burning coal refuse represents one option.
However, both presenters failed to address the significance of the harms that result from burning waste coal, and other viable remediation possibilities. Waste coal often possesses higher concentrations of mercury than non-waste coal, and due to its poor energy content, requires more energy to combust, resulting in dangerous particulates (e.g., PAHs and PICs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Concerningly, waste coal plants do not have to meet the more rigorous emissions standards that other coal plants must meet.
Despite this fact, at least four Pennsylvania coal refuse plants are currently in violation of the federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards: Scrubgrass, Colver, Ebensburg, and Cambria. Moreover, combustion creates ash laden with toxic heavy metals; in fact, over 4/5 of the mass of the original waste coal remains as waste coal ash (source). This ash may still pollute the environment once re-deposited in “remediated” sites. Additionally, burning hydrocarbons such as coal refuse increases the state’s climate change emissions contribution.
Fortunately, other remediation options remain, none of which involve multiplying already extant harms through coal waste combustion. One simple, cost-effective possibility involves planting beach grass on coal refuse piles, which, after a few years, establishes roots and encourages the growth of native plants, preventing erosion and leaching. Other non-polluting methods for remediation of coal waste sites are feasible as well. The Federal RECLAIM act, if passed, would redirect funds ($330 million allocated for Pennsylvania) already collected by the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund to employ thousands of people to remediate coal waste sites in an environmentally responsible manner (source).
Since the creation of PURPA in the 1970s, and the allocation of tax credits to keep the coal refuse industry afloat, federal and state governments have involved themselves in prioritizing emissions-heavy energy production. Policy plays an essential role when market failures result in inefficiencies, such as when artificially low energy prices fail to include negative externalities such as public health costs and widespread environmental pollution. As ARIPPA lobbies for a new set of tax credits, one would be remiss not to criticize their complaint that government “picks winners and losers” in energy markets. As evidenced by the expansion of coal refuse power production over the last 40 years, we know that government can successfully pick losers.
Further information:
Olympus Power, LLC presentation slides
Evan Singer joined the Sierra Club PA Chapter in 2017. As the Climate Fellow, he works to educate members on issues related to energy infrastructure, environmental health, and environmental justice.