Debate Continues Over Coal-Ash Regulation in Wake of Dan River Spill

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A coal-ash spill earlier this year at the Dan River Steam Station in Eden, North Carolina, has brought the issue of coal ash and its regulation back into focus. The power station is owned and monitored by Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina).

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Pipe failures caused the release of an estimated 30,000 to 39,000 tons of coal ash.

For more information, see February 20, 2014, article - Containment and Clean Up for Dan River Coal Ash Spill Ongoing; Future Work Under Consideration, and March 6, 2014, article - Coal Ash Proves an Issue at Five More Duke Facilities.

The best-known incident of coal-ash contamination occurred in 2008 at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant, but the disagreement over how to regulate coal combustion residuals (CCRs), or coal ash, is more than 30 years old. The issue hinges on whether to designate CCRs as hazardous waste material.

CCRs are a mixture of fly ash, bottom ash and boiler slag--all left over by the process of burning coal. The burning process leaves behind a mixture of non-radioactive minerals (typically silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium) and some radioactive materials (uranium, thorium and potassium). The radioactive residuals are called Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM).

CCRs normally are 80% to 90% non-radioactive, and about 45% are reused for things like concrete, blended cement, road base and as an aggregate. The rest is stored in landfills, ash lagoons or quarries.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that there are more than 2,000 storage sites in the U.S., and American Coal Ash Association estimates that 110 million tons of coal ash were produced in 2012.

The EPA is considering two rules for dealing with CCRs. Under the first, the EPA would list CCRs as "special wastes." These would be subject to regulation under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This designation would significantly impact the costs of disposal in landfills or surface impoundments, and those costs would be paid by the companies producing the ash. This cost would eventually be passed on to their customers and lead to an increase in the price of electricity. This rule, if approved, would mean that the EPA would have direct oversight of disposal and inspections.

Under the second rule, the EPA would regulate CCRs under subtitle D of RCRA, which is the section for non-hazardous wastes. This rule would mean no EPA oversight--the matter would be left up to individual states. Both proposals would mean increased regulation, but the EPA estimates the first rule would cost about $1.4 billion per year and the second would cost about $587 million per year. However, the Electric Power Research Institute says the costs would be close to triple the EPA's estimates.

A decree filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in January requires the EPA to publish notice of a final action by December 19.

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