Energy Insider on Coal ash regulation
Depending on how the EPA would classify coal ash, power plants may have to change the way they get rid of the by-product.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- February 18, 2010
Originally broadcast by KMOT-TV
Reported by Jacob Kaucher
Watch the story at this link: Energy Insider: Coal ash regulation
Smoke isn't the only carbon released when coal is burned to produce electricity. A by-product called coal ash is also created. And it looks like the EPA will soon create new regulations on the ash.
"We'll wait and see what they decide," says Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota. "I don't think it's a hazardous product. I don't think it should be declared hazardous."
Depending on how the EPA would classify coal ash, power plants may have to change the way they get rid of the by-product. And that could lead to higher electric bills.
"If it means increased costs for handling," says Daryl Hill, Media Relations Manager for Basin Electric Cooperative, "if it means increased cost for disposal, then those costs are passed on and would affect the cost of the electricity we produce."
But some power stations in our area could escape potential changes.
"It depends on how the regulation is written," Hill says.
You see, the major health and environmental concern of coal ash is when it leaks out of wet pond storage sending arsenic into the water. Most plants in North Dakota, however, store the ash in dry landfills, limiting that risk. And in many cases the ash is even sold to be used in other products.
"Bottom ash is used in sand blasting," Hill says. "The fly ash can be used in road construction and concrete."
"There are beneficial uses for it," Sen. Dorgan says. "And my hope is that the federal agency gets that right."
For now, though, it's a matter of wait and see.
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