Difference between revisions of "Heavy metals and coal"
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In December 2009, there was a Congressional hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on "Drinking Water and Public Health Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal," largely in response to the 2008 [[TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill]] and [[EPA]] reports on the health and environmental risks of [[coal ash]] and [[coal waste]]. Dr. Donald McGraw, the GOP's expert witness at the hearing, testified that arsenic is natural and coal waste benign, as seen in this video. | In December 2009, there was a Congressional hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on "Drinking Water and Public Health Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal," largely in response to the 2008 [[TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill]] and [[EPA]] reports on the health and environmental risks of [[coal ash]] and [[coal waste]]. Dr. Donald McGraw, the GOP's expert witness at the hearing, testified that arsenic is natural and coal waste benign, as seen in this video. | ||
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| + | ==Heavy metal releases in Kingston coal ash spill higher than initially reported== | ||
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| + | According to reports filed with the EPA by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the 2008 [[TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill]] resulted in a discharge of 140,000 pounds of arsenic into the Emory River -- more than twice the reported amount of arsenic discharged into U.S. waterways from all U.S. coal plants in 2007.<ref name="EIA press">[http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/news_12_08_09.php "EIP: KINGSTON COAL PLANT RELEASED 2.6 MILLION POUNDS OF ARSENIC, NINE OTHER TOXIC POLLUTANTS INTO EMORY RIVER IN 2008 – MORE THAN THE ENTIRE WATER POLLUTION OUTPUT OF ALL OTHER U.S. POWER PLANTS,"] Environmental Integrity Project press release, December 8, 2009</ref> | ||
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| + | According to the Environmental Integrity Project, "The new Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data submitted to the EPA by TVA also show that the Kingston ash spill deposited nearly 320 tons of vanadium in the Emory River, or more than seven times the total discharge of this toxic pollutant from all power plants in 2007. The Kingston facility singlehandedly discharged more than of chromium, lead, manganese, and nickel into the Emory River last year than reported discharges of those pollutants from the entire U.S. power industry in 2007. The EIP analysis of the new TVA data finds a total of 2.66 million pounds of 10 toxic pollutants – arsenic, barium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, vanadium and zinc. That compares to the much lower 2.04 million pounds of such discharges from all U.S. power plants into surface waters in 2007."<ref name="EIA press"/> | ||
==Resources== | ==Resources== | ||
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=== External links === | === External links === | ||
| − | + | * [http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pdf/newsreports/TVA_2008TRI_Kingston Ash Spill 2009128.pdf Comparison of 2008 Kingston Coal Ash Discharges to 2007 Industry Discharges,] Environmental Integrity Project fact sheet, December 8, 2009 | |
[[Category:Environmental issues of coal]] | [[Category:Environmental issues of coal]] | ||
Revision as of 18:24, 27 May 2010
{{#badges: CoalSwarm}} Heavy metal refers to any metallic chemical element that has a high density and is toxic or poisonous at low concentrations. Coal contains many heavy metals, as it is created through compressed organic matter containing virtually every element in the periodic table - mainly carbon, but also heavy metals. The heavy metal content of coal varies by coal seam and geographic region. A variety of chemicals (mostly metals) are associated with coal that are either found in the coal directly or in the layers of rock that lie above and between the seams of coal.[1][2]
Small amounts of heavy metals can be necessary for health, but too much may cause acute or chronic toxicity (poisoning). Many of the heavy metals released in the mining and burning of coal are environmentally and biologically toxic elements, such as lead, mercury, nickel, tin, cadmium, antimony, and arsenic, as well as radio isotopes of thorium and strontium.[3]
The electric power sector is the largest source of toxic pollutants in the United States, due to coal ash and coal waste, which contain toxins such as heavy metals.[4] Each year, the waste left over from burning coal generates 125 to 130 million tons of ash and sludge -- 40% of that waste finds it way into new products and 60% is stored in ponds or pits, which can present health and environmental risks if released into ground water.[5] Despite this, as of March 2010 coal ash is categorized as nonhazardous and is not regulated by the EPA.[6]
Contents
Coal Ash
Burning coal produces airborne compounds, known as fly ash and bottom ash (collectively referred to as coal ash), which can contain large quantities of heavy metals that settle or wash out of the atmosphere into oceans, streams, and land.[3][7] The amount of fly ash is going up: in 2006, coal plants in the United States produced almost 72 million tons, up 50 percent since 1993.[8]
The 1.05 billion tons of coal burned each year in the United States contain 109 tons of mercury, 7884 tons of arsenic, 1167 tons of beryllium, 750 tons of cadmium, 8810 tons of chromium, 9339 tons of nickel, and 2587 tons of selenium. On top of emitting 1.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, coal-fired power plants in the United States also create 120 million tons of toxic waste. That means each of the nation's 500 coal-fired power plants produces an average 240,000 tons of toxic waste each year. A power plant that operates for 40 years will leave behind 9.6 million tons of toxic waste.[7] This coal combustion waste (CCW) constitutes the nation's second largest waste stream after municipal solid waste.[9]
When coal is burned, toxins in the coal are released into the smokestack. With modern air pollution controls, airborne toxins are captured through filtration systems before they can become airborne, and contained in a fine ash called coal ash, fly ash, or coal combustion waste. As a result, heavy metals such as mercury are concentrated in what the EPA considers "recycled air pollution control residue."[8]
Rain falling on coal storage piles and ash piles can leach out these heavy metal compounds into ground water or lakes and streams, contaminating drinking water sources.[3]
Coal Sludge
Coal sludge, the liquid coal waste produced by mining activities (also known as slurry), contains heavy metals. The sludge is often kept in impoundments that can leach into the environment, or break open and contaminate an area, such as the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill and the TVA Widows Creek coal waste spill.[4]
List of Heavy Metals in Coal
Some of the most commonly found chemicals in coal and coal waste include:[2]
- Aluminum
- Antimony
- Arsenic
- Barium
- Beryllium
- Cadmium
- Calcium
- Chromium
- Cobalt
- Copper
- Iron
- Lead
- Magnesium
- Manganese
- Mercury
- Molybdenum
- Nickel
- Potassium
- Selenium
- Silver
- Sodium
- Strontium
- Tin
- Vanadium
- Zinc
Toxic Effects of Heavy Metals
Small amounts of heavy metals can be necessary for health, but too much may cause acute or chronic toxicity (poisoning). The constant leaching of heavy metals from coal mining and coal plants leads to bioaccumulation in plants and animals, creating the danger of toxicity.[3] Heavy metal toxicity can result in damaged or reduced mental and central nervous function, lower energy levels, and damage to blood composition, lungs, kidneys, liver, and other vital organs. Long-term exposure can result in slowly progressing physical, muscular, and neurological degenerative processes that mimic Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis. Allergies are not uncommon and repeated long-term contact with some metals may even cause cancer.[10]
Lead
Lead poisoning is possible from too much contact with contaminated soil or drinking water. Lead and mercury affect nervous systems and brain development in children and young animals.[3] Lead accounts for most of the cases of pediatric heavy metal poisoning.[10]
Mercury
Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury in the United States, accounting for about 41 percent (48 tons in 1999) of industrial releases (see Mercury and coal). Tuna and other fish absorb this mercury run-off. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight percent of American women of childbearing age had unsafe levels of mercury in their blood, putting approximately 322,000 newborns at risk of neurological deficits. Mercury exposure also can lead to increase cardiovascular risk in adults.[11] When mercury is deposited on land or in water, microorganisms convert part of it to a highly toxic form called methylmercury. When fish and animals eat these microorganisms, the toxins accumulate and can interfere with reproduction, growth, and behavior, and can even cause death.[12]
In August 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey released a study of mercury contamination in fish in 291 streams around the country. The study, which is the most comprehensive to date, was conducted from 1998 to 2005 and tested over 1,000 fish. Every single fish tested, including those from isolated rural waterways, had at least trace amounts of toxic mercury.[13]
In March 2010 the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) released a report using available EPA data that indicated half of the country's 50 largest mercury-emitting power plants have increased their emissions in recent years, as can be seen in this video.[14]
Arsenic
Arsenic is the most common cause of acute heavy metal poisoning in adults, and does not leave the body once it enters.[10]
Regulation
Despite the negative health and environmental effects of heavy metals, as of March 2010 coal ash is categorized as nonhazardous and is therefore not regulated by the EPA. In May 2009, the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice released a report finding that the Bush Administration failed to release information suggesting an alarmingly high cancer threat for people who live near coal ash waste dumps. According to the study, the Bush Administration only made a portion of the data available, hiding the true extent of the health risks associated with coal ash disposal sites.[6]
Arsenic limits lifted at Wateree Station
On March 8, 2010 it was announced that the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control agreed to eliminate arsenic limits in a wastewater discharge permit for South Carolina Electric & Gas Company's (SCE&G) Wateree Station. SCE&G needs State approval for its coal ash ponds because wastewater from the site runs directly into the Wateree River. The ponds take waste from the company's 40-year-old coal-fired plant. Since the 1990s, high levels of arsenic, a carcinogen, have been found in groundwater and in seepage to the Wateree River from coal ash ponds at the power plant. Sierra Club and other environmental groups are posing to fight the permit on the grounds that arsenic ought not be eliminated.[15]
Proposed Regulation of Coal Waste
In October of 2009 the EPA sent the White House a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for toxic coal ash. President Obama's choice as the head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Cass Sunstein, oversees such policies, but as of March 2010 has refused to act on the EPA's plea. Sunstein has come under scrutiny for allowing his office to meet with coal industry representatives more than 20 times since October 2010. All such meetings took place behind closed doors and were not open to the public. An anti-Sunstein website was launched in response in an attempt to force Sunstein and the White House to act on the EPA's proposed rule.[16]
In December 2009, there was a Congressional hearing in the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on "Drinking Water and Public Health Impacts of Coal Combustion Waste Disposal," largely in response to the 2008 TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill and EPA reports on the health and environmental risks of coal ash and coal waste. Dr. Donald McGraw, the GOP's expert witness at the hearing, testified that arsenic is natural and coal waste benign, as seen in this video.
Heavy metal releases in Kingston coal ash spill higher than initially reported
According to reports filed with the EPA by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the 2008 TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill resulted in a discharge of 140,000 pounds of arsenic into the Emory River -- more than twice the reported amount of arsenic discharged into U.S. waterways from all U.S. coal plants in 2007.[17]
According to the Environmental Integrity Project, "The new Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data submitted to the EPA by TVA also show that the Kingston ash spill deposited nearly 320 tons of vanadium in the Emory River, or more than seven times the total discharge of this toxic pollutant from all power plants in 2007. The Kingston facility singlehandedly discharged more than of chromium, lead, manganese, and nickel into the Emory River last year than reported discharges of those pollutants from the entire U.S. power industry in 2007. The EIP analysis of the new TVA data finds a total of 2.66 million pounds of 10 toxic pollutants – arsenic, barium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, vanadium and zinc. That compares to the much lower 2.04 million pounds of such discharges from all U.S. power plants into surface waters in 2007."[17]
Resources
References
- ↑ Jeff Goodell, Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future. New York, N.Y.: Houghton-Mifflin, 2006
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 "Heavy Metals Naturally Present in Coal & Coal Sludge" Sludge Safety Project, accessed November 2009
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Eilene Toppin Ording,"Heavy Metals and Coal: Carbon Footprint Aside, Coal is not Environmentally Friendly" Suite 101, accessed November 2009
- ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 Clean Air Task Force, "Laid to Waste: The Dirty Secret of Combustion Waste from America’s Power Plants", 2000
- ↑ Neil King and Rebecca Smith,"White House, EPA at Odds Over Coal-Waste Rules", The Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2010.
- ↑ Jump up to: 6.0 6.1 Sue Sturgis,"Bush administration hid coal ash dumps' true cancer threat," Instituted for Southern Studies, May 8, 2009.
- ↑ Jump up to: 7.0 7.1 "Green Coal?," Rachel's Environment & Health News, November 6, 2008.
- ↑ Jump up to: 8.0 8.1 "Fly ash: Culprit at Lafarge? Residue of coal-burning is being examined as possible source of mercury pollution," Times Union, October 26, 2008.
- ↑ Sue Sturgis, "Coal's ticking timebomb: Could disaster strike a coal ash dump near you?," Institute for Southern Studies, January 2009
- ↑ Jump up to: 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Heavy Metal Toxicity" Life Extension, accessed November 2009
- ↑ “Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants: The Case for Regulatory Action,” Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, October 2003.
- ↑ "'Fingerprinting' Method Tracks Mercury Emissions From Coal," ScienceDaily, October 9, 2008.
- ↑ "Mercury Found in Every Fish Tested, Scientists Say," New York Times, August 20, 2009.
- ↑ "EIP Report: Electric Power Industry "Not Making A Dent" in Dangerous Mercury Pollution, Which Rose at Over Half of the Nation's 50 Dirtiest Power Plants" Environmental Integrity Project, March 17, 2010.
- ↑ "DHEC loosens arsenic limit for SCEandG: Discharge from utility's plant feeds into Wateree River" Sammy Fretwell, RenewableBiz.com, March 8, 2010
- ↑ Ash Sunstein AshSunstein.com, accesses March 16, 2010.
- ↑ Jump up to: 17.0 17.1 "EIP: KINGSTON COAL PLANT RELEASED 2.6 MILLION POUNDS OF ARSENIC, NINE OTHER TOXIC POLLUTANTS INTO EMORY RIVER IN 2008 – MORE THAN THE ENTIRE WATER POLLUTION OUTPUT OF ALL OTHER U.S. POWER PLANTS," Environmental Integrity Project press release, December 8, 2009
Related SourceWatch articles
- Climate impacts of coal plants
- Mountaintop removal
- Mercury and coal
- Sulfur dioxide and coal
- Global warming
- Environmental impacts of coal
- Coal waste
External links
- Ash Spill 2009128.pdf Comparison of 2008 Kingston Coal Ash Discharges to 2007 Industry Discharges, Environmental Integrity Project fact sheet, December 8, 2009
