A dam wall burst releasing more than a billion gallons of coal ash in East Tennessee just before Christmas on December 22. The gray sludge apparently now covers over 300 acres and has destroyed three homes. Interestingly the spill has been blamed on cold weather and above-normal rains (see MSNBC news report).
In the US and Australia coal ash, also known as fly ash, is captured at power stations and generally stored as a sludge while in many parts of the developing world it escapes through the chimney and contributes significantly to air pollution. Linfen, China, is considered one of the most polluted places in the world because of this coal industry emission (see the Blacksmith Institute 2006 Annual Report).
Captured coal ash can be used in pre-mixed concrete, for road stabilization and has agricultural applications. But at least in Australia, its classification as a waste means its use is subject to all sorts of regulatory controls beyond those for claimed equivalent virgin materials meaning too much ends up in unnecessarily in overflowing sludge dams rather than being recycled.**
A challenge for our society is to better utilization industry by-products like coal ash and better prepare for cold weather including through ensuring appropriate infrastructure for the storage of substances like coal ash.
In the meantime, I extend my sincere commiserations to the residents of Roane County in Tennessee.
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**Ash Utilisation – an Australian Perspective. Craig Heidrich. 2003 International Ash Utlization Symposium, Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky. http://www.flyash.info/2003/03heid.pdf
Photograph courtesy of the Tennessee Valley Authority via Environmental News Service
Kingston Ash Slide Update web page, http://www.tva.gov/
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Interestingly the spill has been blamed on cold weather and above-normal rains
why not blame the spill o the production of the coal ash?
renewable energy doesn t cause coal ash..
Possibly a lesson in climate risk management. 🙂
Probability of exceedance.
Strangely I thought engineers and geologists knew everything …
mmmm, fertilizer. Can I have some? Usually I buy charcoal, crush it and mix it with sandy soil for the grass.
Going to be some really fine forests growing there in a few short years. Ever go hunting and notice how the deer and other plant eaters always feed in the burn areas where the ground is covered with dust and soot, and ask yourself, why would they do that?
Carbon, carbon life forms and the cycle of life. Only liberals don’t understand their world.
Remember the source for these pollutants??? Plants! Other blogs are decrying the amounts of heavy metals in the coal/fly-ash. Yup, some where in the 2 thousands of 1 % of that slurry/sludge is made up of heavy metals. Plants, animals and we need some level of these heavy metals for good health.
Dangerous? Might be, but I have not seen the study, yet to tell us how dangerous. There is; however, a whole lot of hand waving.
Yet another good argument for nukes.
renewable energy doesn t cause coal ash..
but renewable energy can produce ash!
We have a fuel stove fuelled by dead timber. Surrounded by trees that are growing and constantly dropping excess branches.
These ash pits do eventually fill and have to be dredged on a more or less regular routine something that may not have happened here. This power plant is operated by The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal government agency that has been around since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt so the call for criminal prosecution has been muted. Had it been a normal public utility The press would be screaming for blood.
Given humans are natural, short-circuiting the effluecent cycle has it consequences.
The example here is best compared to colonic irrigation interupted with an AGW induced blockage.