The Army Corps of Engineers started dredging the clogged Emory River and may have to work on the nearby Clinch River. A decision must be made on where to contain the coal ash dredging, and then the deep layers of dried coal ash. The TVA power plant is still operating and new coal ash is generated every day. Stakeholders and planners are engaged in a complex exchange that could alter the way the nation's power plants do business -- or not. There has been little agreement on what to do about the coal ash situation, or just how serious the problem really is.

 

The Army Corps is charged with keeping navigable waterways safe and open and one of their first priorities was to assess the situation and determine whether any other utility coal ash containment facilities were likely to fail.

 

According to Senator Barbara Boxer, Chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, "After the devastating Kingston spill, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee immediately held an oversight hearing to better understand this incident and how to avoid similar disasters in the future... When EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson came before our Committee for her confirmation hearing a week later, she committed to move immediately to address the threat posed by coal ash waste." Boxer continued, "We know EPA has collected a substantial amount of information on coal combustion waste sites nationwide. We also understand the Agency has identified several hundred coal ash piles across the country. To date, they have identified 44 sites that pose a 'high hazard.' A 'high hazard' rating means that they are located in such a way that if these coal ash ponds were to fail, they would pose a threat to the people living nearby."

 

Shortly after the spill, Boxer asked the EPA to immediately follow up on these 44 sites and to ensure that the public is protected and the EPA began to notify local officials, including first responders, about the 'high hazard' sites.   Then the Homeland Security Department got involved. Boxer says, "I am concerned that the EPA, after consulting with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Homeland Security, has indicated that they cannot make the list of 'high hazard' sites public."

 

A widely reported statement from Homeland Security says, "The Presidential Administration has decided to keep secret the locations of nearly four dozen coal ash storage sites that pose a threat to people living nearby. The EPA classified the 44 sites as potential hazards to communities while investigating storage of coal ash waste after a spill at a Tennessee power plant in December 2008. The classification means the waste sites could cause death and significant property damage if an event such as a storm, a terrorist attack, or a structural failure caused them to spill into surrounding communities...The Army Corps of Engineers in a letter dated June 4 told the EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the public should not be alerted to the whereabouts of the sites because it would compromise national security. "Uncontrolled or unrestricted release (of the information) may pose a security risk to projects or communities by increasing its attractiveness as a potential target."

 

Boxer confirmed the secrecy, saying, "We are pursuing whether the handling of these sites is consistent with the handling of other similar facilities, because of the critical importance of the public's right to know about threats in their communities. If these sites are so hazardous and if the neighborhoods nearby could be harmed irreparably, then I believe it is essential to let people know... In that way, they can press their local authorities who have responsibility for their safety to act now to make the sites safer."

 

She promised, "I am sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the EPA to ask for further information on whether the public disclosure of coal ash waste sites is consistent with the treatment of other hazardous sites. One of the lessons we all learned from the TVA spill is that a close look at these facilities is extremely important, and we cannot rely on general assurances that these sites are safe. That is why I am pleased that on-the-ground inspections have begun. "

 

Environmental activists are expressing concern and distress at the "secret list" and Internet bloggers are considering the whole matter a challenge. The locations of coal fired power plants are well-established and lists of coal ash containment facilities are reported through 2005. In 2005, DOE stopped publishing updated lists, but lists of the 156 largest U.S. coal ash ponds are only four years out of date and are available.

 

 

 

 

Amateur mapping hobbyists could use Google Map to track down and pinpoint each of the 150+ ponds. A county is a big place, but a satellite image of a containment pond next to a power plant is distinctive. Knowing the locations and capacity of the 150+ coal ash ponds would not reveal the 44 most dangerous. It can be assumed that anyone with civil engineering skills could pick out potentially dangerous locations based on fairly simple criteria like proximity to homes, highways, or navigable rivers. To put this in perspective, here's a TVA image of the Kingston spill.

 

 

 

This was undoubtedly a coup for the environmental advocates, the bloggers, and the mappers. It's important to note that if they could quickly and easily do this research, then so could terrorists.

 

In late June 2009, according to a statement from the EPA, the situation was "resolved" and details on the 44 'high hazard' sites released. According to EPA530-F-09-006, "Fact Sheet: Coal Combustion Residues (CCR) - Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings," In response to an EPA information request on units handling wet or slurried CCRs, electric utilities have identified a total of 427 units managing slurried CCRs to date. Forty-four of these units at 26 different locations are assigned a high hazard potential rating, using the criteria developed by the National Dam Safety Program for the National Inventory of Dams. Hazard potential ratings are generally assigned by the State Dam Safety officials."

 

"The National Inventory of Dams hazard potential ratings address the potential consequences of failure or misoperation of the dam. A high hazard potential rating indicates that a failure will probably cause loss of human life. The rating is not an indication of the structural integrity of the unit or the possibility that a failure will occur in the future; it allows dam safety and other officials to determine where significant damage or loss of life may occur if there is a structural failure of the unit. EPA’s assessment of the 26 facilities that have units with high hazard potential ratings continues to be an Agency priority. EPA has conducted on-site assessments, which are undergoing Agency review, at 11 of these facilities. The remaining 15 of these facilities have had state inspections within the past 12 months and EPA will be reviewing the reports from those inspections. EPA plans to make public the results of our assessments as soon as they are completed."

 

According to the EPA, the following 44 coal combustion residue management units at 26 facilities now have a High Hazard Potential rating:

 

 

Congress initially raised the prospect of regulating coal ash as a hazardous waste in 1980, but regulators moved slowly until March 2000, when the Environmental Protection Agency said it planned to designate it a “contingent hazardous waste.” After electric utilities protested that such a move would cost too much, then-EPA administrator Carol M. Browner reversed herself and determined that coal ash amounted to a solid waste. The agency pledged to issue regulations on the matter but failed to do so. Enforceable federal standards are not in place. The question remains “what to do?”