North-Central W.Va. is Ground Zero for Surface Mine Coal Ash
EPA is considering whether material from power plants used
in mine reclamation is hazardous.
The State Journal
28 January 2010
By Pam Kasey
On the eve of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision about
regulating coal combustion waste as a hazardous material, mine
operators are spreading the substance extensively across north-central
West Virginia.
The noncombustible part of coal, coal combustion waste (CCW) is what's
left when power plants burn coal to make electricity, according to the
EPA. It includes fly ash, boiler slag and scrubber residues.
Following the December 2008 CCW slurry spill that covered 300 acres in
Kingston, Tenn., West Virginians learned of 20 such wet slurry
impoundments in this state.
But CCW may be disposed of in other ways as well; in the absence of
federal regulation, practices differ state by state.
In West Virginia, it may be landfilled.
It may be recycled: into concrete, for example, or wallboard.
Or, when written into a surface mine permit, its combination with coal
mine refuse during reclamation may be designated a "beneficial use" by
the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, according to
the Division of Mining and Reclamation's permitting handbook.
Meanwhile, one coal company official said his company complies with
regulatory standards and he is concerned that increased standards
needlessly could increase the cost of energy.
CCW and North-Central W.Va.
The practice is widespread in north-central West Virginia.
The simple idea behind it, according to Jeff Stant, is that the
alkaline CCW material neutralizes the highly acidic northern
Appalachian coal wastes and prevents acid mine drainage. Stant has
studied CCW for two decades and directs the nonprofit Environmental
Integrity Project's Coal Combustion Waste Initiative.
The reality, Stant said, is much more complex.
A 2006 National Academy of Sciences study found that CCW contains
"metals and other elements, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium and
lead, in quantities that can potentially be harmful to human health or
the environment."
Stant cited research showing that, rather than offering a beneficial
synergy, the chemical interactions between acidic mine refuse and
alkaline CCW create ideal conditions for leaching the heavy metals from
the ash.
"They're creating a more dangerous scenario," Stant said. "They're
maximizing risk."
A map in the National Academies study shows that north-central West
Virginia has by far the highest concentration of CCW mine placement in
the country.
"Monongalia, Marion and Preston counties, there are 80 or 90 mine dumps
there," Stant said. "Pennsylvania has more total mine dumps, about 120,
but they're spread over the western half of the state and the eastern
anthracite region. Yours are almost all in those three counties."
Two Current Permits
Currently in public comment are two draft permits in north-central
West Virginia that include CCW.
In one, for Morgantown-based Patriot Mining Co.'s New Hill West surface
mine in the acidic Waynesburg seams, CCW from the Morgantown Energy
Associates power plant would be applied during reclamation.
Residents John and Petra Wood, scientists who work in Morgantown and
moved to nearby Cassville 17 years ago for a more secluded lifestyle,
submitted comments on Patriot's Community Impact Statement and its
draft Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act permit.
The Cassville area has changed, the Woods wrote.
"Since 1997, almost 1,100 acres have been surface mined, and permit
applications for an additional 580 acres of surface disturbance
recently have been submitted for this area," they wrote.
"From 1999 to 2007, we estimate that about 6 million tons of CCW have
been deposited on seven surface mine permits ... in and around the
Cassville community," they wrote, summarizing their review of other
permits. "An additional 2.4 million tons of CCW is proposed for (the
current permit)."
They cited findings by the National Academies and others showing that
CCW mine sites leach heavy metals with potential human health effects
and that state-mandated surface water and groundwater monitoring
typically are insufficient.
They also pointed out that CCW has been found to leach dissolved
solids, or TDS -- the contaminant that contributed to the death of the
fish and mussels on more than 38 miles of Dunkard Creek in their area
last fall.
"Could the millions of tons of CCW that have been deposited in the
Monongahela River watershed in recent years be contributing to TDS
loading in the river and its tributaries?" the Woods asked in their
comments. "This needs to be investigated, as the Monongahela River is
the drinking water source for 850,000 people (and has been) identified
by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources as a high-quality
stream."
The second permit, for Morgantown-based Coresco LLC, is a surface
mining control and reclamation act permit -- but involves no mining.
"The proposed Coal Refuse Disposal Area No. 4 will not include coal
removal and will strictly be a refuse disposal site," the applicant
states.
Coresco proposes to combine coal preparation refuse from its local
mining operation and CCW from the Hatfield's Ferry, Fort Martin and
Longview power plants on a 350-acre site near the Monongahela River.
The company would deposit up to 2.8 million tons of material each year
for 25 to 30 years to a final height, in one area, of up to 500 feet.
The West Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club commented on this permit.
"There does not appear to be any beneficial purpose to the disposal of
the coal ash and combustion byproducts," the comments read. "We
recommend that the beneficial use designation be determined to be
inapplicable to this permit, and that a solid waste landfill permit be
required, complete with liner, leachate collection and leachate leak
detection systems."
Stant placed the project in context.
"It's a huge, a huge operation," he said. "(The completed project) is
like two-thirds of the entire annual national generation of coal
combustion waste from all power plants."
EPA and OMB
A "hazardous" designation from the EPA would trigger the
development of a federal disposal standard.
Tom Jones, senior mining engineer at Patriot Mining, said he believes
the testing that Patriot conducts and that WVDEP requires is sufficient
to show that the company's use of CCW is in compliance with existing
regulations.
A blanket hazardous designation would send CCW to landfills needlessly,
he said, and would increase Patriot's costs and, ultimately, the price
of electricity.
The federal Office of Management and Budget currently is conducting
meetings with industry stakeholders.
At issue are those additional costs, as well as whether a hazardous
designation would cripple re-use -- the destination of 45 percent of
CCW in 2008, according to the American Coal Ash Association, mine fills
included.
Stant believes the designation would stop the use of CCW at mines.
"Minimum requirements would have to be met that would force them to
isolate the ash from water," he said. "If they did that, that would
spell the end of mine filling as we currently know it."