Drinking Water And Public Health Impacts Of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal

Burning coal in electric utility plants produces, in addition to power, residues that contain constituents which may be harmful to the environment. The management of large volumes of coal combustion residues (CCRs) is a challenge for utilities, because they must either place the CCRs in landfills, surface impoundments, or mines, or find alternative uses for the material. This study focuses on the placement of CCRs in active and abandoned coal mines. The committee believes that placement of CCRs in mines as part of the reclamation process may be a viable option for the disposal of this material as long as the placement is properly planned and carried out in a manner that avoids significant adverse environmental and health impacts. This report discusses a variety of steps that are involved in planning and managing the use of CCRs as minefills, including an integrated process of CCR characterization and site characterization, management and engineering design of placement activities, and design and implementation of monitoring to reduce the risk of contamination moving from the mine site to the ambient environment. Enforceable federal standards are needed for the disposal of CCRs in minefills to ensure that states have adequate, explicit authority and that they implement minimum safeguards.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Coal combustion waste (CCW) is inorganic material that remains after pulverized coal is burned for electricity production. Industry estimates that as much as 136 million tons were generated in 2008. On Dec. 22, 2008, national attention was turned to the waste when a breach in an impoundment pond at the TVA¿s Kingston, TN, power plant released 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry. The cleanup cost may reach $1.2 billion. Contents of this report: (1) Intro.; (2) Overview of EPA¿s Proposal; (3) The Nature of CCW; (4) CCW Management Methods; (5) Risks Associated with CCW Mis-Management; (6) RCRA Provisions Relevant to EPA¿s Proposal (7) EPA¿s Proposed Regulatory Options; (8) Types of Coal Combustion Waste. Charts and tables.

Coal-fired power plants account for almost half of America¿s electric power, resulting in 136 millions tons of CCW. CCW contains a range of heavy metals such as arsenic, beryllium, chromium, lead, and mercury. The primary concern regarding CCW relates to the potential for hazardous constituents to leach into surface or groundwater, and hence contaminate drinking water, surface water, or living organisms. Contents of this report: (1) Disposal and Use Issues; (2) The Nature of Coal Combustion Waste; (3) Potential Risks Associated with CCW Management; (4) Regulatory History and Current Rulemaking; (5) Landfill and Surface Impoundment Disposal; Mine Disposal; ¿Beneficial Use¿. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical wasteâ€"but there is increasing public concern over the benefits of combusting the waste versus the health risk from pollutants emitted during combustion. Waste Incineration and Public Health informs the emerging debate with the most up-to-date information available on incineration, pollution, and human healthâ€"along with expert conclusions and recommendations for further research and improvement of such areas as risk communication. The committee provides details on: Processes involved in incineration and how contaminants are released. Environmental dynamics of contaminants and routes of human exposure. Tools and approaches for assessing possible human health effects. Scientific concerns pertinent to future regulatory actions. The book also examines some of the social, psychological, and economic factors that affect the communities where incineration takes place and addresses the problem of uncertainty and variation in predicting the health effects of incineration processes.