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Sierra Club Coal Ash Study

Submitted by Tanya Koonce on Mon, 08/30/2010 - 5:37am
A study released last week by the Sierra Club and two other environmental groups has those organizations calling for more federal regulation of coal ash. That’s the bi product of the coal used to make electricity. The greater Peoria River Valley has four sites that store coal ash, including the Havana Power Station, Duck Creek near Canton, Powerton South of Pekin, and the E-G Edwards facility near Bartonville. Becky Clayborn is with Illinois Sierra Club. She says many of the facilities listed in the study don’t have ground water monitoring at their containment sites:           
            Clayborn: The main findings of our report show as coal ash is regulated on a state by state basis its created a patch work of regulations that’s inadequate across the united states. Most of the these impoundments are unlined which means there’s no protective barrier between the toxic stew of the coal ash pound and our precious ground water and surface waters.
Clayborn says the Sierra Club is supporting a federal proposal aimed at providing more controls on the containment of coal ash. The E-P-A hearing on the matter is in Chicago, September 16th. The E-P-A is also accepting public comment on the legislative proposal. The Sierra Club has more information on the subject at its web site sierra club dot org slash coal ash.