Posts Tagged ‘problem’
Posted in More than a year after a Tennessee coal ash spill created one of the worst environmental disasters of its kind in U.S. history, the problem is seeping into several other states.
It began Dec. 22, 2008, when a retaining pond burst at a coal-burning power plant, spilling 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash across 300 acres into the Emory River and an upscale shoreline community near Knoxville. It was enough ash to cover a square mile five feet deep.
While the Tennessee Valley Authority’s cleanup has removed much of the ash from the river, the arsenic- and mercury-laced muck or its watery discharge has been moving by rail and truck through three states to at least six different sites. Some of it may end up as far away as Louisiana.
At every stop along the route, new environmental concerns pop up. The coal-ash muck is laden with heavy metals linked to cancer, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering declaring coal ash hazardous.
“I’m really concerned about my health,” said retiree James Gibbs, 53, who lives near a west-central Alabama landfill that is taking the ash. “I want to plant a garden. I’m concerned about it getting in the soil.” Gibbs said that since last summer there has been a “bad odor, like a natural gas odor.”
After the spill, the TVA started sending as many as 17,000 rail carloads of ash almost 350 miles south to the landfill in Uniontown, Ala. At least 160 rail shipments have gone out from the cleanup site, said TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: ability, acre, Agency, Ala., Alabama, alabama cities, Amalia Cox, ammonia, anything, arsenic, ash, Authority, Barbara Martocci, bind, briefly, building, burst, cancer, Cartersville, cement, central Alabama, cleanup, coal, coal ash, commercial wastewater, community, company, Con, contract, contractor, cost, County, cubic yards, day, Dec, decision, delivery, Demopolis, discharge, disposal, dispute, Eddie Dorsett, effort, Emory River, environmental disasters, environmental protection agency, EPA, facility, February, Federal, firm, Fox, Friday, Ga., garden, gas, Georgia, health, heavy metals, heavy rain, Hi, history, James Gibbs, January, Jordan, kind, Knoxville, landfill, landfill operators, letter, lime, liquid, Louisiana, management, manager, Marion, McNeely, mile, Mississippi, Mobile Bay, moisture, month, muck, Nashville, November, odor, outcry, permit, Perry, Perry-Uniontown, Phill, Phillips, Pigott, plan, plant, pond, power, president, problem, Protection, publicity, rail, rail shipments, rain, retiree, river, route, shoreline, shoreline community, site, soil, spill, spilling, spokeswoman, state, statement, Steve McCracken, stop, subsidiary, summer, tanker, Tech, Tenn., Tennessee, tennessee coal, tennessee valley authority, treatment, truck, TVA, U.S., U.S. Environmental, underway, unrelated problems, Valley, waste, wastewater, wastewater treatment plants, water, watery discharge, way, west central alabama, year
Turning coal into gasoline-like fuel has several advantages. It would use America’s vast coal reserves. It would reduce the nation’s thirst for foreign oil and help dampen spikes in energy prices. There’s just one problem: It is not “climate friendly” – at least, not yet.
Coal-to-liquids (CTL) fuels could end up emitting nearly double the carbon dioxide that the equivalent amount of gasoline does, mostly because of the way it’s manufactured. The CTL industry says new technology will fix the problem. But because such technology is not yet developed, it’s unclear whether CTL fuels would be competitive without state and federal subsidies, even competing against high-priced diesel, jet fuel, or gasoline, analysts say.
That’s where politicians come in. The National Mining Association has ramped up Capitol Hill lobbying, creating a new coalition and website, futurecoalfuels.org. Many in Washington are warming to the idea. CTL bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate have received strong backing. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: alternative, alternative fuel, America, amount, Analysis, analyst, Association, atmosphere, backing, Barack, barack obama, bill, bipartisan support, Capitol Hill, capture, carbon, case, chance, climate, coal, coal producers, coal reserves, Coal-to, Coal-to-liquids, coalition, concept, Congress, control, Corey, corn, Council, CTL, day, December, Defense, demand, Department, development, diesel, dioxide, director, DOE, Elizabeth Martin-Perera, energy, energy prices, energy security, energy solution, engine, environment, equivalent, federal subsidies, filing, fire, fleet, forecast, fuel, funding, Gal, gallon, gasoline, Gilb, Global, global security, Global-warming, goal, greenhouse, group, half, Henry, House, idea, Illinois, impact, industry, Institute, Jan, jet, jet fuel, Laboratory, landmark, legislation, liquid fuel, Liquids, Luft, manufacturing, Martin, Mining, momentum, move, Mr. Bush, Mr. Henry, nation, National, national mining association, Natural, NRDC, oil, org, Pennsylvania, percent, plan, planning, policy, president, President Bush, Princeton, problem, production, project, promise, question, range, renewable fuel, rich illinois, Security, Sen, Senate, Senator Obama, solution, speech, spokesman, stance, state, Storing, study, support, tank, tax, technology, term, think, thirst, time, total, Turning, Union, union speech, United States, University, US, warming, warming to the idea, Washington, way, website, Wyoming, year