Coal Ash Debate Ripples Throughout Utility World
EPA to Decide Soon on Hazardous Waste Classification
The Environmental Protection Agency has a big choice to make: to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste or to continue to oversee it as a solid waste with some added enforcement. Public comments end this month with a decision expected in December.
While the Obama administration would probably prefer the stricter guidelines, it is unlikely to expend the necessary political capital. With the Republicans now in charge of the House of Representatives, the president's team will extend an olive branch and instead choose to make more incremental changes -- to toughen disposal standards and to let the states maintain their leadership role.
"We are critically concerned that regulating coal combustion byproducts as hazardous waste - an approach opposed by every State (over 20) that has weighed in on the issue - would not only effectively end the beneficial use of these materials, but also would jeopardize the ability of certain of our power plants to remain in service," write the Edison Electric Institute and the American Public Power Association to U.S. senators.
Right now, coal combustion byproducts are categorized as a solid waste. That has allowed those byproducts to participate in a secondary market whereby they can be recycled and used for such things as cement and dry wall. But if the material is reclassified as a hazardous waste, coal groups say it would be irreversibly stigmatized and any ancillary use of them would evaporate.
The investigations into coal ash have been ongoing ever since a retention wall owned and controlled by the Tennessee Valley Authority broke and 5.4 million yards then escaped. So, after examining the issue, the current EPA is likely to modify the rules - not overhaul them -- noting that increasing evidence exists to suggest that mercury-and arsenic-laden coal ash adversely affects human health and the environment.
Coal ash is disposed of either as a liquid that goes into large surface impoundments or as a solid that is placed into landfills. TVA, which had used the liquid disposal method at its Kingston Fossil Plant, now says that it will stop impounding "wet ash." Instead, it will convert it to dry ash and bury it in places with liners while also monitoring the ground water - something to which the EPA says would become mandatory for all such sites.
Right now, EPA says that power plants create annually 136 million tons of coal ash. That number, though, is expected to rise to 175 million tons by 2015. Last year, the regulator released a report saying that 49 coal ash sites were considered a "high hazard," meaning that if an accident occurred it could result in deaths. It identified another 71 sites that it says are responsible for the leakage of heavy metals into ground water.
Intense Lobbying
The TVA coal ash spill is the most prominent. But smaller accidents have occurred before. And statistics gathered by environmental groups indicate that unless the situation is brought under federal control, the risks will climb.
"Before the Kingston disaster, coal ash was a sleeping, toxic giant," says Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "This epic event was the catalyst for much needed refocusing on just how dangerous this coal waste is."
If the byproduct would be regulated as a hazardous material, the agency says that would cost industry $1.5 billion a year whereas if it is viewed as a nonhazardous material, it would run $600 million a year. By contrast, TVA is spending at least $1.2 billion to clean up the accident that covers 300 acres -- something that EPA contends might have been prevented if either of its two proposals had been in effect.
Under both approaches, EPA would leave in place an exemption that allows for the beneficial recycling of coal ash -- a huge business that alleviates already stressed landfills and a process that EPA says will keep the public safe. Today, about 54 million tons annually of the material is recycled.
The coal ash industry, however, says that the no mater what, the industry will be tainted. That's unfortunate, it adds, noting that if the material is properly handled, it presents no risk to the public. Moreover, because coal ash is now recycled, it reduces the effects on climate change.
"The stigma of being associated with hazardous wastes is real and is already affecting markets," says Thomas Adams, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association, who spoke at a recent public hearing in Tennessee.
The utility sector says that it has heard the warning shots that have been fired after the collapse of TVA's retention wall. While it is open to having national policymakers close the loopholes in their local rules, companies believe strongly that the states are closer to the issues when it comes to regulating their facilities - sites that they say are up to engineering standards and which are routinely inspected.
After the TVA disaster, conventional wisdom would indicate that it would be easier to more closely regulate the coal ash industry. But such thinking would under-estimate the potency of the utility and coal lobbies. And now, with the Republican surge in Congress, the Obama administration will want to play nicely. Therefore, any sudden move to classify coal combustion byproducts as a hazardous waste is improbable.
Gradual changes, though, are another matter. Industry recognizes that it must take greater precautions to prevent any further coal ash spills - just as TVA has done on its own and in advance of any potential changes in the law. Needless-to-say, the rules will tighten but they won't strangle the secondary recycling markets for coal ash.
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Comments
Coal Ash is not hazardous...and cigarettes are safe too!
It is not shocking, but sad that a 25 year veteran of the coal industry would state that coal ash is not hazardous...and then site the reason being he hasn't seen a study to prove it. Sounds an awful lot like the tobacco lobby many years ago. This will play out the same way unless the coal industry stops living in denial, and hiding behind "the preservation of jobs" and any other excuse for why they shouldn't have to live in a 21st century reality that what they create is toxic, and they need to pay the real costs of disposing of that waste. Without that, they are receiving a major subsidy that is being paid for by the health and wellbeing of U.S. citizens...most of which are too poor to speak for themselves or they would have moved away from the toxic dumps that are threatening them each and every day.
I'm a energy independence guy first and foremost. I don't want to kill coal. I do want it to live up to a 21st century standard and not be unfairly subsidized on the backs of innocent people. I never want to hear another report that a coal ash disaster has occured. It should never be allowed to happen again.
Coal ash is not hazardous
As a 25-year veteran of the coal ash industry, I can state with certainty that I have never seen any analysis of any coal ash (other than cases where hazardous waste had been co-combusted with coal) that exceeded EPA standards for toxicity. EPA bases its justification for listing coal ash as a "special waste" on the strength of several damage cases where large volumes of fly ash were obviously mismanaged and placed in close proximity to groundwater, and on the potential for another catastrophe similar to the TVA Kingston Plant berm failure. I believe EPA is covered on both fronts with a non-hazardous subtitle D designation.
What is needed are Subtitle D regulations that contain landfill design criteria, locational standards for placement of landfills, periodic testing of the material and submittal of result, and operating requirements for dust and runoff control. In addition, EPA should encourage recycling of coal ash, not demonize the material. Managed properly, coal ash poses minimal danger to the environment or human health.
The major difference between EPA's hazardous and non-hazardous proposals are in the enforcement mechanisms. With a hazardous designation, EPA has enforcement responsibilities. With a non-hazardous designation, enforcement would be through citizen suits which may be initiated by the states. The protective features of landfills would be the same under either proposal. Most states have done a more-than-adequate job of enforcing ash landfill permits they have issued.
Let's all recognize the real agenda here - to end generation of electricity by coal combustion. Turning power plants into "large generators" of hazardous wastes will increase costs and make coal combustion less competitive in comparison to natural gas, wind and solar through artificial regulation.
Yes. Coal Ash is a problem that needs solution
The coal ash problem in Thermal plants is a big issue. In India there are several environmental groups who want the coal based thermal plants have to be closed. In development especially thermal power sector, one has to take preventive methods like GREEN BELT spread over several hectares of land, strict measures before the issue of the license to start Coal based thermal plants. There are several clearances to be taken before the erection of Coal based thermal plants. As one American cynic once said,” YOU INDIANS ARE BETTER THAN BILL GATES IN CREATING WINDOWS”. In India the tendency is first politicians and public fight to get the Thermal plants(Coal based) and when once they are established agitate for their closure!
In India many Coal based Thermal plants are in operation and under installation.
The Coal based Thermal plants in India(Source: Wikipedia):
The electricity sector in India is predominantly controlled by the Government of India's public sector undertakings (PSUs). Major PSUs involved in the generation of electricity include National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC),Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI). Besides PSUs, several state-level corporations, such as Maharashtra State Electricity Board(MSEB), Kerala State Electricity Board, (KSEB),in Gujarat (MGVCL, PGVCL, DGVCL, UGVCL four distribution Companies and one controlling body GUVNL, and one generation company GSEC), are also involved in the generation and intra-state distribution of electricity. The Power Grid Corporation of India is responsible for the inter-state transmission of electricity and the development of national grid.
India is world's 6th largest energy consumer, accounting for 3.4% of global energy consumption. Due to India's economic rise, the demand for energy has grown at an average of 3.6% per annum over the past 30 years. In June 2010, the installed power generation capacity of India stood at 162,366 MW while the per capita energy consumption stood at 612 Kwh. The country's annual energy production increased from about 190 billion Kwh in 1986 to more than 680 billion Kwh in 2006. The Indian government has set a modest target to add approximately 78,000 MW of installed generation capacity by 2012 which it is likely to miss. The total demand for electricity in India is expected to cross 950,000 MW by 2030.
About 70% of the electricity consumed in India is generated by thermal power plants, 21% by hydroelectric power plants and 4% by nuclear power plants. More than 50% of India's commercial energy demand is met through the country's vast coal reserves. The country has also invested heavily in recent years on renewable sources of energy such as wind energy. As of 2008, India's installed wind power generation capacity stood at 9,655 MW. Additionally, India has committed massive amount of funds for the construction of various nuclear reactors which would generate at least 30,000 MW. In July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020.
Electricity losses in India during transmission and distribution are extremely high and vary between 30 to 45%.] In 2004-05, electricity demand outstripped supply by 7-11%.[13] Due to shortage of electricity, power cuts are common throughout India and this has adversely effected the country's economic growth. Theft of electricity, common in most parts of urban India, amounts to 1.5% of India's GDP. Despite an ambitious rural electrification program, some 400 million Indians lose electricity access during blackouts. While 80 percent of Indian villages have at least an electricity line, just 52.5% of rural households have access to electricity. In urban areas, the access to electricity is 93.1% in 2008. The overall electrification rate in India is 64.5% while 35.5% of the population still live without access to electricity. According to a sample of 97,882 households in 2002, electricity was the main source of lighting for 53% of rural households compared to 36% in 1993. Multi Commodity Exchange has sought permission to offer electricity future markets
Here is a thorough analysis on Coal ash problem(Source: Wikipedia):
A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum (oil) to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation. In many countries, such plants provide most of the electrical energy used.
Fossil fuel power stations (except for MHD generators) have some kind of rotating machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy, which then operate an electrical generator. The prime mover may be a steam turbine, a gas turbine or, in small isolated plants, a reciprocating internal combustion engine. All plants use the drop between the high pressure and temperature of the steam or combusting fuel and the lower pressure of the atmosphere or condensing vapour in the steam turbine.
Byproducts of power thermal plant operation need to be considered in both the design and operation. Waste heat due to the finite efficiency of the power cycle must be released to the atmosphere, using a cooling tower, or river or lake water as a cooling medium. The flue gas from combustion of the fossil fuels is discharged to the air; this contains carbon dioxide and water vapour, as well as other substances such as nitrogen, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and (in the case of coal-fired plants) fly ash, mercury and traces of other metals. Solid waste ash from coal-fired boilers must also be removed. Some coal ash can be recycled for building materials.
Fossil fueled power stations are major emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG) which according to the consensus of scientific organisations are a major contributor to the global warming observed over the last 100 years. Brown coal emits 3 times as much GHG as natural gas, black coal emits twice as much per unit of electric energy. Carbon capture and storage of emissions are not expected to be available on a commercial economically viable basis until 2025.
Environmental impacts
The Mohave Power Station, a 1,580 MW coal power station near Laughlin, Nevada, out of service since 2005 due to environmental restrictions.
The world's power demands are expected to rise 60% by 2030. With the worldwide total of active coal plants over 50,000 and rising, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that fossil fuels will account for 85% of the energy market by 2030.
World organizations and international agencies, like the IEA, are concerned about the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels, and coal in particular. The combustion of coal contributes the most to acid rain and air pollution, and has been connected with global warming. Due to the chemical composition of coal there are difficulties in removing impurities from the solid fuel prior to its combustion. Modern day coal power plants pollute very little due to new technologies in "scrubber" designs that filter the exhaust air in smoke stacks. Nowadays, the only pollution caused from coal-fired power plants comes from the emission of gases—carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide into the air. Acid rain is caused by the emission of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the air. These themselves may be only mildly acidic, yet when they react with the atmosphere, they create acidic compounds (such as sulfurous acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid) that fall as rain, hence the term acid rain. In Europe and the U.S.A., stricter emission laws and decline in heavy industries have reduced the environmental hazards associated with this problem, leading to lower emissions after their peak in 1960s.
European Environment Agency (EEA) gives fuel-dependent emission factors based on actual emissions from power plants in EU.
Pollutant
Hard coal
Brown coal
Fuel oil
Other oil
Gas
CO2 (g/GJ)
94600
101000
77400
74100
56100
SO2 (g/GJ)
765
1361
1350
228
0.68
NOx (g/GJ)
292
183
195
129
93.3
CO (g/GJ)
89.1
89.1
15.7
15.7
14.5
Non methane organic compounds (g/GJ)
4.92
7.78
3.70
3.24
1.58
Particulate matter (g/GJ)
1203
3254
16
1.91
0.1
Flue gas volume total (m3/GJ)
360
444
279
276
272
Carbon dioxide
Main article: Carbon dioxide
Electricity generation using carbon based fuels is responsible for a large fraction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide and for 41% of U.S. man-made carbon dioxide emissions. Of fossil fuels, coal combustion in thermal power stations result in greater amounts of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity generated (2249 lbs/MWh) while oil produces less (1672 lb/(MWh) or 211 kg/GJ) and natural gas produces the least 1135 lb/(MWh) (143 kg/GJ).US EPA Clean Energy—Gas</ref>)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (see IPCC) states that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and that increased quantities within the atmosphere will "very likely" lead to higher average temperatures on a global scale (global warming); concerns regarding the potential for such warming to change the global climate prompted IPCC recommendations calling for large cuts to CO2 emissions worldwide.
Emissions may be reduced through more efficient and higher combustion temperature and through more efficient production of electricity within the cycle. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) of emissions from coal fired power stations is another alternative but the technology is still being developed and will increase the cost of fossil fuel-based production of electricity. CCS may not be economically viable, unless the price of emitting CO2 to the atmosphere rises.
[edit] Particulate matter
Another problem related to coal combustion is the emission of particulates that have a serious impact on public health. Power plants remove particulate from the flue gas with the use of a bag house or electrostatic precipitator. Several newer plants that burn coal use a different process, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle in which synthesis gas is made out of a reaction between coal and water. The synthesis gas is processed to remove most pollutants and then used initially to power gas turbines. Then the hot exhaust gases from the gas turbines are used to generate steam to power a steam turbine. The pollution levels of such plants are drastically lower than those of "classic" coal power plants.
Particulate matter from coal-fired plants can be harmful and have negative health impacts. Studies have shown that exposure to particulate matter is related to an increase of respiratory and cardiac mortality. Particulate matter can irritate small airways in the lungs, which can lead to increased problems with asthma, chronic bronchitis, airway obstruction, and gas exchange.
There are different types of particulate matter, depending on the chemical composition and size. The dominant form of particulate matter from coal-fired plants is coal fly ash, but secondary sulfate and nitrate also comprise a major portion of the particulate matter from coal-fired plants.[14] Coal fly ash is what remains after the coal has been combusted, so it consists of the incombustible materials that are found in the coal.
The size and chemical composition of these particles affects the impacts on human health. Currently coarse (diameter greater than 2.5 μm) and fine (diameter between 0.1 μm and 2.5 μm) particles are regulated, but ultrafine particles (diameter less than 0.1 μm) are currently unregulated, yet they pose many dangers. Unfortunately much is still unknown as to which kinds of particulate matter pose the most harm, which makes it difficult to come up with adequate legislation for regulating particulate matter.
There are several methods of helping to reduce the particulate matter emissions from coal-fired plants. Roughly 80% of the ash falls into an ash hopper, but the rest of the ash then gets carried into the atmosphere to become coal-fly ash. Methods of reducing these emissions of particulate matter include:
The bag house has a fine filter that collects the ash particles, electrostatic precipitators use an electric field to trap ash particles on high-voltage plates, and cyclone collectors use centrifugal force to trap particles to the walls.
Water and air contamination by coal ash
A study released in August 2010 that examined state pollution data in the United States by the organizations Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earth justice found that coal ash produced by coal-fired power plants dumped at sites across 21 U.S. states has contaminated ground water with toxic elements. The contaminants including the poisons arsenic and lead.
Arsenic has been shown to cause skin cancer, bladder cancer and lung cancer, and lead damages the nervous system. Coal ash contaminants are also linked to respiratory diseases and other health and developmental problems, and have disrupted local aquatic life. Additional contaminants emitted include boron, which attacks the testes, kidney and brain, and the heavy metal mercury, a neurotoxicant particularly harmful to a child's development, causing nerve damage and impairment of a child's ability to write, read and learn. Coal ash also releases a variety of toxic contaminants into nearby air, posing a health threat to those who breath in fugitive coal dust.
Currently, the EPA does not regulate the disposal of coal ash; regulation is up to the states and the electric power industry has been lobbying to maintain this status quo. Most states require no monitoring of drinking water near coal ash dump sites. The study found an additional 39 contaminated U.S. sites and concluded that the problem of coal ash-caused water contamination is even more extensive in the United States than has been estimated. The study brought to 137 the number of ground water sites across the United States that are contaminated by power plant-produced coal ash.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
TVA - A US Government-owned Corporation
Isn't it interesting that TVA's ownership is hardly ever mentioned in stories regarding its failures.
Here we have a federally-owned entity involved in an environmental failure which will trigger additional federal enforcement actions against all coal-fueled electric generation facilities.
How convenient!