Coal Ash: 7 Myths and 7 Facts

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Related Environmental Issues / Environmental Impact

Date posted: 09/29/17

To begin, the Earth Justice Group (Sierra Club spin-off) indicates that coal ash is hazardous. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a waste is “hazardous” if it leaches toxic chemicals, like arsenic or selenium, above a certain threshold when tested using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Using the TCLP, coal ash rarely exceeds this threshold. However, the EPA’s Science Advisory Board and the National Academy of Sciences have determined that the TCLP does not accurately predict the toxicity of coal ash. When EPA tests coal ash using a new, more accurate leach test, the resulting leachate can exceed by many times these hazardous waste thresholds. For example, when tested with EPA’s new, coal ash test leached arsenic at up to 18,000 parts per billion (ppb), which is 1,800 times the federal drinking water standard and over 3 times the hazardous waste threshold. The new test revealed selenium leached from one coal ash at up to 29,000 ppb, which is 580 times the drinking water standard and 29 times the hazardous waste threshold. This is not backyard soil, unless you live at a Superfund site. Because of the pollutants in coal ash, leachate from ponds, landfills and fill projects can severely damage health and the environment. EPA’s 2010 risk assessment found the cancer risk from drinking water contaminated with arsenic from coal ash disposed in unlined ponds is as high as 1 in 50 adults, which is 2,000 times EPA’s regulatory goal for acceptable cancer risk. Dry landfills can also pose dangers to drinking water and aquatic life, according to the EPA. .