T he energy industry is steadily evolving beyond fossil fuels and shifting to more renewable and sustainable sources. This is fantastic news for the planet, but before this transformation can be complete, we must address the fossil fuel legacy of nearly 2 billion tons of coal ash stored in inefficient and environmentally perilous ways [...]
I n all discussions of coal ash disposition — either through beneficial reuse or keeping it intact but contained — the overriding concern is safety. The cap-in-place solution has been solidly debunked from a safety standpoint. The market for beneficiation of coal ash in building products still lags far behind the over-abundance of legacy CCR. [...]
T he number of landfills in the U.S. is decreasing, resulting in dwindling airspace available to hold our waste. If you own a landfill, you must ask, “Is my landfill an asset or a liability?” - The answer is “yes, it is an asset”. Like any asset local landfill owners need to protect, improve and [...]
i t is hard to imagine, with such little progress over the past fifteen years, that we are on the verge of solving the coal ash dilemma. But the simple fact remains that to eliminate carbon pollution from the electricity sector in a reasonable timeframe requires a “mass clean-up” of inadequate coal ash storage across [...]
For many years a variety of industries performed and developed activities with little regard for the environmental impact. These operations were carried out at a time where laws and regulations were either non-existent or not comprehensive enough, which led to the development of contaminated sites. Environmental remediation is a process that is used to [...]
Based on the wide-spread reaction of our last post, we thought that is would be good to further explain “the choices” that could be available to all stakeholders (utilities, EPA, politicians, state regulators, environmental groups, and local communities) dealing with excavated legacy coal ash. Before any choices are revealed, all the stakeholders must decide [...]
Despite years of controversy …. All stakeholders (utilities, EPA, politicians, state regulators, environmental groups, and local communities) will have to decide on “dig it up” or “cover it up” as a middle-path solution. When that happens, the stakeholders will have to make choices as for the methods to deploy. In all these discussions of [...]
From an environmental standpoint when is it appropriate to do more than the bare minimum? The answer is ALWAYS! It doesn't matter if you are a large/small Waste Management Company, a Utility dealing with CCR management, a small private/public landfill, or a Development Company trying to transform an environmental eyesore into usable space; it [...]
Are you tired of hearing about coal ash yet? Is it harmful, is it in groundwater or not, is it going to be excavated, are the states protecting its citizens, and how much is it really going to cost are all common coal ash discussion points. Who could blame you if you are tired [...]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is revisiting its 2015 rule that regulated the disposal of toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. Among other actions, the EPA has ordered companies to stop placing ash in unlined ponds since keeping coal ash in unlined storage has long been the threat to drinking water. When the dust settles, [...]
