The residue of millions of tons of coal burning at Kingston Fossil power plant in the Watts Bar Reservoir in Tennessee burst the bounds of the pond in which it was contained, burying as many as 400 acres of land in up to six feet of sludge. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which owns the coal-fired power plant—first operated in 1955—announced that 15 homes were buried and no injuries were reported.

A combination of rains and accumulating sludge likely contributed to the disaster—one of two major ash pond collapses in the past decade. All told, about 2.6 million cubic yards of so-called coal ash slurry escaped, the TVA says. The collapsed pond is one of three on the site.

"We deeply regret that a retention wall for ash containment at our Kingston Fossil Plant failed, resulting in an ash slide," said Tom Kilgore, TVA president and CEO in an official statement today.

Such slurry worries environmentalists and public health activists because it is the residue of coal burning. The burning concentrates the impurities in the coal, including arsenic, lead and mercury, among many other potentially toxic contaminants. Coal ash is also radioactive.

But dealing with the 129 million tons of coal ash produced in the U.S. every year is not easy. Some 25 million tons of it is dumped in old coal mines, and some companies incorporate it into cement. The rest is typically dumped in landfills or stored in large coal-ash ponds like the one that collapsed. But many environmentalists argue for only disposing of it in lined landfills, to prevent contaminants from leaching out.

"A risk assessment released by the U.S. EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] revealed that coal ash poses extremely serious threats to human health and the environment when disposed in waste ponds and landfills," says Lisa Graves Marcucci, a founding member of the Jefferson Action Group, a Pennsylvania environmental group that is among 38 environmental organizations calling for the incoming Obama administration to review coal ash disposal rules. "Significant pollution from mine disposal has been documented in New Mexico, West Virginia, Indiana, North Dakota, as well as Pennsylvania."

6 Comments

1. 1. JAB 11:37 AM 12/24/08

   I expect better of Scientific American. The reporting here is vague at best and misleading beyond what is decent. Do a little due diligence before publishing a story like this. It's not that hard to dig up actual facts about whether the ash spilled contains any toxic chemicals. Even asking TVA about it will get you the stats. Almost all fly ash is considered non-toxic by the EPA. Power producers go to great lengths to buy coal that will produce non-toxic ash to avoid the costs and problems associated with disposal.

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2. 2. Wakemup 12:39 PM 12/24/08

   The EPA hasn't classified coal combustion waste as hazardous industrial waste c, despite it meeting the characteristics of such, their own risk assessment and documented instances of it contaminating ground water and compromising public health. Constituents of coal combustion waste include heavy metals and radionuclides. As a result of the EPA's apathy, the storage of it in unlined retention ponds or surface impoundments isn't prohibited by the Federal government.

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3. 3. tintinmilou 03:28 PM 12/24/08

   One answer: Nuclear Generation. No carbon footprint, no ash, extremely small volume of waste, produced every 18 months. And the fuel cycle can be self-sustaining. The French have it very well designed. We have over 60 reactors in the U.S. today, and no accidents since 3-mile, and even that one was more of a scare. The NRC has stringent policies and procedures in place to keep that from every happening again. Until we get fusion working, fission generation is as close to perfect as we can get.

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4. 4. icmountainpeaks 05:03 AM 12/25/08

   Say a prayer for all those who just lost their homes to the Kingston mining disaster that released a coal ash sludge that plowed through 15 homes and in to the river system that that provides drinking water from Tennessee to Alabama. Say a prayer for those who are spending this Christmas worrying about their health. To the mother who is preparing a babies bottle with tap water and hasnt heard of the disaster yet. To the child reaching for a glas of water. For all those who are in the winds path when the sludge dries and turns to dust. The mining disaster is 40 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It is ok to drink the water for a few days because Although video from the scene shows dead fish on the banks of the tributary, he said that "in terms of toxicity, until an analysis comes in, you can't call it toxic." Interview from Cnn. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/23/tennessee.sludge.spill/index.html . The wet ash contains concentrated amounts of mercury, arsenic and benzine is covering 400 acres of land and 15 homes not including what has entered the drinking water. It causes neurological problems and increases the risk of cancer sever hundred fold. Pray fro all those victims, and those that dont know they will become a victim. You can see an aerial view of the damage here.
   http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/lets-go-clean-coal-yeah-baby-more-kingston-mine-gifts-to-the-people-and-environment
   
   
   

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5. 5. texastoxic 02:56 AM 12/26/08

   The toxic, hazardous, and poisonous compounds in coal flyash are dependent on the coal source and can vary as the seams are mined. Exactly which elements are in the flyash can easily be determined by a $35 XRF analysis. The elements easily leach out with tap water, just like coffee or tea. The rigorous Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) costs a bit more and is performed with ICP-MS. The there is no need to wait 18 hours for analysis when a simple distilled water flush shows what is falling into the water supply.
   Utilities, their trade organizations, lobbyists, campaign fund recipients, and their state and federal political appointees have great influence in keeping flyash off toxicity listing. Citizens in states that claim beneficial use for flyash are especially vulnerable. Flyash is the major contributor to the body burden caused by particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5s). Where the sludge settles, and dries, the PM2.5 dust will be re-entrained in the air and redistributed to the downwind public. PM2.5s are known as invisible killers, too small to see, smell or feel, they enter can human systems by inhalation, ingestion, and through the skin.
   There is no safe level of PM2.5s. PM2.5s contain toxic, hazardous, and poisonous elements and their compounds, including well-documented neurotoxins Lead, Mercury, Manganese, and Tin that cause learning disabilities, behavioral difficulties, disorders diagnosed as ADHD, ADD, depression, psychosis, and madness. PM2.5s contain many elements that injure, incapacitate, and kill by various means including cancer, respiratory and cardio-vascular ailments: Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Bromine, Cadmium, Carbon, Cesium, Chlorine, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Fluorine, Molybdenum, Nickel, Phosphorus, Silver, Selenium, Thallium (yes, rat poison), Thorium, Uranium, Vanadium and Zinc. All of these elements can leach out of from the PM2.5s with distilled water, like coffee or tea, more elements leach out at the pH levels of body fluids. Cell damage is done by whole PM2.5s, soluble and insoluble fractions of the elements and compounds. PM2.5s from lab grade pure carbon to the PM2.5s with the heaviest elements, have been shown to penetrate the lung wall, deposit in various parts of the body and, as Lead, Mercury, Manganese, cross the blood-brain barrier to deposit around various parts of the brain including the hypothalamus reducing memory, reducing learning, and increasing behavior difficulties.
   

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6. 6. AtomSplitter 12:09 PM 4/29/09

   I like how you guys use a picture of Kingston Fossil Plant from the 50's, long before any of the electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers were in service. The stacks in this picture haven't been used since the 70's. Good one!

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