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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Environment - "Kentucky and Indiana lead nation in coal ash ponds"

James Bruggers reports in the Louisville Courier Journal - here are some quotes:

Indiana and Kentucky are the nation's top two states for coal ash ponds — and many of the holding basins for the toxic mess were built without the guidance of trained engineers, according to new information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The accounting, which found nearly 600 ash ponds across the U.S. — 53 in Indiana and 44 in Kentucky — is based on a survey of the nation's electric utilities that the EPA conducted after a massive December coal ash spill in Tennessee.

While the survey does not identify any of the Kentucky or Southern Indiana ponds as having any significant deficiencies, it found that inspections by state regulatory agencies in Kentucky, Indiana and elsewhere have been spotty. * * *

The Obama administration has promised to adopt national rules for handling coal combustion wastes, including ash and scrubber sludge. But agency spokeswoman Latisha Petteway said Monday that she did not know when the agency might propose new regulations for ash ponds. Regulation now is largely left to individual states.

She declined to comment on her agency's ash pond accounting and would only say that EPA officials are analyzing the findings and will make a report public by Jan. 1.

The EPA reported numerous ponds that had not been designed by an engineer, including three at Duke Energy's Gibson County, Ind., plant, seven Kentucky Utilities ponds scattered around Kentucky, and LG&E's 10 ponds at its Cane Run and Mill Creek plants in Louisville. Some also weren't overseen by a professional engineer during construction. * * *

The EPA's list shows no recent inspections by state regulators at numerous ponds, including some at LG&E's Mill Creek and Cane Run plants in Louisville, and Duke's Gallagher plant.

That's because Kentucky has no mandate to inspect impoundments deemed to be at little or no risk of collapse, said Bruce Scott, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection. “For high-hazard structures, we inspect once every two years. … So, based on this EPA evaluation, at least for high-hazard structures, Kentucky has done a pretty good job of inspecting those sites in a timely manner.”

There are no requirements in Indiana for routine inspections of ash ponds contained by relatively small berms, which are typical in that state, said Rob Elstro, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The LCJ has made available the 14-page EPA coal ash pond surveys.

Here is a long list of earlier ILB "coal ash" entries.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 1, 2009 09:15 AM
Posted to Environment