SUN EDITORIAL:
Cleaning up a mess
EPA has much left to do to protect the water supply, environment from coal ash
Saturday, July 4, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
The Environmental Protection Agency this week released a list of 44 coal ash dumps that pose a potential risk to the environment.
The EPA list came in response to last year’s disastrous spill in Tennessee of more than a billion gallons of coal ash, the toxic byproduct of coal-fired power plants.
In that spill the dam of a storage pond failed, releasing the ash into nearby rivers and homes.
According to The New York Times, the list identifies sites in 10 states as having a “high hazard potential,” meaning a spill would most likely result in the loss of human life. However, environmentalists are questioning the validity of the report. Instead of conducting an independent review, the EPA sent power companies a questionnaire and asked them to evaluate their dump sites.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the pond that failed, did not rank any of its storage facilities as having a “high hazard potential,” said Lisa Evans, a lawyer for Earthjustice.
The questionnaire failed to ask about the integrity of the storage ponds or the likelihood of their failure. It also didn’t ask about whether waste ponds were lined to protect against heavy metals leaching into the soil, a common source of contamination. The EPA should know better. Two years ago the agency reported contamination at 63 coal ash dump sites across the country because of leaching.
Given the magnitude of the problem with the Tennessee spill, this is unacceptable, if not surprising. For years the EPA has failed to properly oversee or regulate coal ash, and this list does little to give us confidence that the agency is on the right track.
The Obama administration has promised to take more aggressive action on coal ash. We hope to see that soon.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Dina Titus dares to cross Harry Reid, maneuvers for Democratic safe seat
- Grammy Awards struggle with honoring Whitney Houston
- Vegas gala to celebrate Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday, benefit Ruvo Center
- Kate Upton, 19, is 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover girl
- Abiding by tax law is not praiseworthy
- Strip Scribbles: Is ‘Dancing With the Stars’ at Tropicana on again?
- A personal tribute and a plea: Memories of Whitney Houston
- Why compromise when you’re right?
- List of Grammy winners in select major categories
- Female with gunshot wound found dead at business
Blogs
High School Sports Scene
High School Hoops Picks: Wednesday's quarterfinals
The Kats Report
What a Whitney Houston residency in Las Vegas might have looked like
Elsewhere
Caesars' unit extends term loan maturity
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (6 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.



The EPA "didn't ask about whether waste ponds were lined to protect against heavy metals leaching into the soil, a common source of contamination...."
"Two years ago the agency reported contamination at 63 coal ash dump sites across the country because of leaching."
The EPA has been approving and permitting the coal plants for decades. Why don't they use the permit information they have and the annual operations reports they get and evaluated them.
The EPA has the information.
Obama needs to tell them to stop asking questions and just do their job.
fly ash can be used for other industrial uses.