http://blog.buzzflash.com/greenisgood/008-snip-
That was the day a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power plant accident near Knoxville sent more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash over the eastern half of the state. The coal ash, or the residue left over after coal-fired power plants generate electricity and strip out pollutants, contained heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium that are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be a threat to water supplies and human health. Scientists are still examining the spill's immediate effect to the surrounding area, although a recent study done by scientists and graduate students at Duke University found that the coal ash could pose a significant threat to local communities and aquatic ecosystems.
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It was clear that the coal ash needed to be removed from Tennessee, and quick. But where can you put 300 acres worth of coal ash?
For the TVA and the EPA, the answer was Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County, a rural area of Alabama. For residents of Uniontown, AL -- Arrowhead Landfill's closest population center -- it was just another problem. One that happens to weigh a billion gallons in toxic sludge.
The Arrowhead Landfill, located in central Alabama 75 miles west of Montgomery and 80 miles southwest of Birmingham, was not chosen on a whim, however. After careful consideration, both the TVA and EPA chose the site as a dumping ground because it is reachable by train, surrounded by an isolated area (if you consider 4 to 5 miles from Uniontown "isolated") and most importantly, can handle all the ash.
Local officials supported the ash contract, as well. In a community where the unemployment rate is 17 percent and a third of all households are below the poverty line, the idea of $3 million added to the county's budget and the 30 more jobs that the coal ash contract has so far created was quite an appeal.
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Besides toxins such as arsenic and lead, coal also contains uranium and thorium that could be potentially harmful. Both have been deemed radioactive elements, and when they're a part of natural, or "whole," coal, this isn't an issue. It's when coal burns into fly ash, like the coal ash from the Tennessee spill, that uranium and thorium become a problem. When coal combusts and generates fly ash, one of the two types of ash that are jointly known as coal ash, both elements are concentrated up to 10 times their original levels. In fact, according to a study done by Scientific American, "the fly ash emitted by a power plant... carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same energy."
For Uniontown citizens, it's just another concern and another problem.
"I have to return to my persistent question: If this stuff is so safe, why bother cleaning it up when it spills?" wrote W. Compson Sartain, a columnist for the Perry County Herald. "I won't feel comfortable until I see a delegation from the EPA and the TVA standing on the courthouse square, each member stirring a heaping spoonful of coal ash into a glass of Tennessee river water this stuff has already fallen into and gargling with it. Go ahead. Put our money where your mouth is."
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the poor always get dumped on, one way or the other.
on the whole, americans are stupid.
almost half of our highschool students don't graduate.
coal Barons have their feet on Obama's throat. its a shame.
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