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Coal Ash: 130 Million Tons of Waste

August 15, 2010 5:00 PM

If coal ash is safe to spread under a golf course or be used in carpets, why are the residents of Kingston, Tenn., being told to stay out of a river where the material was spilled? Lesley Stahl reports.

Coal Ash: 130 Million Tons of Waste
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by AronBeatty January 30, 2013 6:53 PM EST
I think the way the coal ash was disposed of is just ridiculous, I don't understand who could possibly have thought it would be a smart and "safe" way to dispose of coal ash. Obviously these people did not care about the effects of their actions. This is a good story to show why it is important for proper waste management.
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by ceobill August 13, 2011 6:29 PM EDT
21st Century Telecommunications, Inc. has a unique "wireless, Internet and DTV mobile television network concept including renewal energy, transportation, housing and manufacturing." We are promoting a change in the way we design new communities using a renewal energy systems approach-with sustainable planning, net zero-energy homes, advanced vehicles, and innovative utility interconnections-which will significantly decrease energy use.
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by newzzhownd August 24, 2010 7:41 PM EDT
As Leslie Stahl indicates in her expose, while EPA does not have Federal coal ash standards, per se, many states do. Unfortunately, even the strictest states have coal ash exemptions. I wish Leslie Stahl could have gotten a couple of soundbytes from authorities in other states. It would have been interesting to hear if some states are doing better than others, and if so - how.
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by greene_teeth August 21, 2010 12:49 PM EDT
TVA is a federally owned corporation for Profit. Today I read an article where TVA is planning on 'shutting down' some of it's older coal plants replacing with the 'revival' of the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Alabama (shuttered in the 1980s). What is also not mentioned is most of the current nuclear plants uses the Tennessee River for cooling and when we have a hot, mostly dry summer, those plants supposedly Cut their production of electricity because the river temps are over 90 degrees. Since TVA publishes this data, it is also suspect. Oh, the more recent article says TVA plans to do this by spring 2011 with of course more rate hikes for the customers. Check Chattanooga,TN newspaper for the complete article(s). It is amazing to me so many intelligent people who I know really thinks this horrific byproduct is 'safe'. How can a federally owned corporation be regulated by the individual states?????? I would like to see this particular lobbyist interviewed be made to live on the Emory River for at least a year. Not to mention having the TVA executives do the same or near the dump in Alabama. One of the units built near Watts Bar supposedly uses a closed loop water coolant...but nobody can or will explain to me how that works without the use of the TN river.
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by shinobi64 August 20, 2010 11:08 PM EDT
do not forget that the Bush administration was involved in so called safe usage
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by texacoman August 20, 2010 12:43 PM EDT
If Leslie Stahl knew nothing of "coal ash" how does the EPA expect the average american to know of it? Epa reminds me of S.C. DHEC. They claim they are here to protect its citizens, but overall they are here to protect industries, no matter how bad the american people will be affected. Tennessee was a "wake up" call for the EPA with "coal ash" but apparently the coal industry tells them what to do. Look at how it has destroyed an area of people and what they still face on a day to day basis. SHAME on the EPA.
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by pahamc August 19, 2010 2:32 PM EDT
We as a society are all guilty for the resultant mess from the ash spill. I do agree with kyotee007. If we cut the demand for electricity, then there will be a reduction in the demand for fossil fuel. Consider everything that is derived from the availability of the now fossil fuel generated electricity.
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by kyotee007 August 19, 2010 12:11 PM EDT
if you don't like coal - turn off your lights
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by Ecoserve1 August 19, 2010 12:11 PM EDT
Ms. Stahl's assertion that we cannot get along without coal is only true if we have no concern for our future or the future of our kids and theirs.

Sure, we might not be able to shut down all the operating coal plants in the US or the world tomorrow and maintain an economy but we really need to begin the transition to the use of renewable and clean energy if we are to have any chance to save our species and out planet.

Sulfur dioxide from coal creates acid rain that kills forests and fine particles that kill people to the tune of 24,000 Americans each year. Mercury in coal results in the reduced IQs in more than 300,000 children each year and coal burning is the primary cause of global warming due to its huge emissions of Carbon Dioxide.

Mining of coal destroys entire ecosystems and the communities nearby. I have travelled widely in coal country and I have NEVER found a "prosperous" coal community. Instead, once coal comes to a town, unemployment will rise and the community will generally find its pride stripped away. Coal is the bane of economic development, not its salvation. Coal is an act of desperation and if we do not stop it soon, we will all find ourselves in desperate straits as climate change makes its way around the earth.
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by chemistretired August 19, 2010 12:10 PM EDT
I did a study for U.S.EPA in the 1970's. We looked at TVA's Widows Creek plant(coal fired utility boiler). All input and output streams were studied, including bottom ash and fly ash. NIST provided a Standard Reference Material for coal ash with metal analyses (SRM 1632c). NIST also currently has three SRM for coal ash.(SRM 2689,SRM2690,and SRM2691) The government knew and still knows how toxic coal ash is but still refuses to regulate it. ENERGY LOBBY? MINING LOBBY????
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