Aerial view of the Robert Scherer coal power plant north of Macon, Georgia (Antennas: Wikimedia Common Use Public Domain)
COAL POLLUTION
Almost every coal-fired power plant in the US is contaminating groundwater with unsafe levels of toxic pollution, according to the first comprehensive analysis of coal ash waste disposal, analysis finds.
Discharges from COAL power plants alone contribute A THIRD of all the toxic pollution in our environment. Every year, coal-fired power plants dump millions of tons of toxic metals into our waterways including selenium, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, thallium, lead and uranium. The toxins contaminate our drinking water, fishing areas, and local rivers and streams. Research has COAL responsible for over 800,000 premature DEATHS per year globally and many millions more serious and minor illnesses.
COAL ASH: Widespread Groundwater Contamination – Environmental Integrity Project
Environmental Integrity Project Analysis
Of the 265 US power plants that monitor groundwater, 242 have reported unsafe levels of at least one pollutant derived from coal ash, which is the remnants of coal after it is burned for energy. More than half such facilities report unsafe levels of arsenic, a carcinogen linked to multiple types of cancer, with 60% finding elevated lithium, which is associated with neurological damage.
In all, nine out of every 10 coal plants with reportable data have tainted nearby groundwater with at least one coal ash pollutant, with a majority having unsafe levels of at least four different toxins.
“The pollution is basically everywhere you look,” said Abel Russ, attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), which compiled the analysis based on reports issued by individual power plants. “The major concern is that this could be a problem for decades or centuries because once the pollutants leach from the coal ash into the water, they are hard to get out.”
“The pollution is basically everywhere you look,” said Abel Russ, attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), which compiled the analysis based on reports issued by individual power plants. “The major concern is that this could be a problem for decades or centuries because once the pollutants leach from the coal ash into the water, they are hard to get out.”
American coal plants produce about 100m tons of coal ash each year, with at least 2bn tons stored in pits of varying quality. Many of the coal ash waste ponds or pits are poorly and unsafely designed, with less than 5 percent having waterproof liners to prevent contaminants from leaking into the groundwater, and 59 percent built beneath the water table or within five feet of it.
People who draw their water directly from wells are most at risk from any groundwater pollution; however, the toxins are also in surface waters including rivers and streams. These are primary water sources for most communities. Environmentalists argue that allowable levels of certain toxins in treated drinking water are too lax and also pose a risk. Many water treatment plants across the country are aging and are not required to test or treat for all toxins in coal ash. Furthermore, the contaminates also pose a serious risk to crops, livestock, domestic animals, fish, and wildlife. If the water is contaminated, every living being is being contaminated.
THE PATHWAYS OF COAL ASH POLLUTION
Widespread pollution spread by coal ash dumps should act as “a wake-up call for the nation”, said Lisa Evans, senior counsel with Earthjustice, which assisted with the report. “Using industry’s own data, our report proves that coal plants are poisoning groundwater nearly everywhere they operate,” Evans said. “The Trump administration insists on hurting communities across the US by gutting federal protections. They are making a dire situation much worse.”