We should not be a sacrifice zone for Duke Energy’s environmentally negligent actions.
What is a sacrifice zone?
Sacrifice zones are areas where “Americans are trapped in endless cycles of poverty, powerlessness and despair as a direct result of capitalistic greed.”
We all know that Duke Energy has Gov. Pat McCrory in its pocket. This is clearly a conflict of interest given the governor’s past relationship with Duke.
Recent documents from state files indicate that Anson County is also targeted for the toxic coal ash witches’ brew. It is for that reason on behalf of Pee Dee WALL, I formally request a hearing in our county.
Coal ash is a special waste not fit for municipal solid waste landfills and should be put in a protected structure on Duke Energy property, thereby preventing the transfer of liability from private to public entities.
While the coal ash is on Duke’s property, this waste stream is toxic. But, as soon as you load it on a train headed to a solid waste Landfill like the one in our county it becomes non-toxic.
There are several reasons why disposal of coal ash in solid waste landfills is alarming:
• Air pollution
• Water contamination
• Leachate
• Sludge
• Transportation
• Lacking regulations and lax enforcement
• The right of citizens to say no
The Waste Connections landfill in Polkton is in the middle of a minority community. This makes this not just an environmental threat, but a justice issue.
Waste Connections plans to store the toxic leachate from the coal ash in holding ponds.
Pee Dee WALL and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League met with Anna Baucom, chairwoman of the Anson County Board of Commissioners. With documentation in hand, we informed her of the dangers of the leachate from coal ash.
Ms. Baucom informed us that after speaking to Waste Connections that the leachate would not go to our wastewater treatment plant, but be placed in holding ponds on site. Problem solved? Far from it.
Coal ash sludge is very toxic.
Coal ash sludge contains a large range of constituents, including dissolved minerals that have been leached or washed out of the coal. In addition, the sludge contains chemicals added to facilitate the washing or water re-use processes. There is a list of more than 50 chemicals that can be in this sludge.
What exactly is the state requiring to be tested on this sludge? Are water treatment plants equipped to monitor or filter out these chemicals?
Coal ash can be radioactive.
The focus in explorations of the hazards of coal waste in regions where it is produced in the United States has previously centered on the heavy metals and toxins that are contained by the ash, but now there is another peril to add to the list, according to researchers at Duke University.
“Until now, metals and contaminants such as selenium and arsenic have been the major known contaminants of concern in coal ash,” according to Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke and co-author of the study. He went on to say, in a statement. “This study raises the possibility we should also be looking for radioactive elements, such as radium isotopes and lead-210, and including them in our monitoring efforts.”
According to the recent study, radioactive contaminants are found in coal ash at rates of up to five times higher than in normal soil, and up to 10 times higher than in its parent coal because of the way that radioactivity is concentrated during combustion.
Radium isotopes and lead-210 naturally occur in coal, but during combustion “the radium isotopes become concentrated in the coal ash residues, and the lead-210 becomes chemically volatile and reattaches itself to tiny particles of fly ash.”
This month, Anson County Commissioner Bobby Sikes, pointed out that when he was at the landfill recently, he noticed that Waste Connections had taken down its device for radiation detection. Are they not supposed to be able to check for radiation if they suspect it? You can’t find it if you don’t look for it. If coal ash were to come to Anson’s landfill, how can we trust or believe that they will check the coal ash?
Anson County should not be the dumping ground for any of Duke’s 150 million tons of coal ash. Why does Duke Energy want to send the coal ash off-site? Because then it limits their liability. This is not a legacy we should shoulder on our future generations.
The Environmental Protection Agency has found that living next to a coal ash disposal site can increase your risk of cancer or other diseases.
The EPA recommendations have no teeth — there will be no federal enforcement of the regulations. It’s up to individual states and communities to enforce the law and states are not required to adopt the EPA’s rules. Can we trust Waste Connections to monitor itself? Laws prohibiting county control over what is allowed to be brought to their county are not only unethical, but immoral.
The current method to determine toxicity is the TCLP test. EPA recommends using more accurate methods to test the coal ash for toxicity other than the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, but it is not required.
Air pollution — ammonia is a major pollutant in the coal ash leachate. Residents living near a landfill where coal ash leachate is stored in a lagoon reported very serious odor problems, probably from high ammonia levels and volatile bacterial degradation products from the leachate. This was undoubtedly an unbearable situation for those nearby residents.
The ammonia is also causing odor, breathing and other health problems for people living around the open lagoon where the leachate is stored.
There is an increasing belief among solid waste experts that unless further steps are taken to detoxify landfilled materials, today’s society will be placing a burden on upcoming generations to address.
It is a well-known fact that all landfills will eventually leak. Even the EPA has admitted this. The liner system they use is about the thickness of two credit cards.
How well is this landfill monitored? The state may average a visit to the site about once every year.
The N.C. Coal Ash Management Commission, which played a key oversight role in closing Duke Energy’s ash ponds statewide, was abruptly disbanded due to a court ruling. The board, if and when it is reconvened, should include representatives who citizens can trust to make the right decisions and that are not based on what is in the best interest for Duke Energy.
The problem associated with these waste ponds is nothing new. Not until the devastating spills and the public demanding something be done was it an issue. Then for the state to lower the fines on Duke is ludicrous. No wonder people like Trump are getting so many people to follow him. People are angry at the injustice of our government.
If our government would do its job and prevent such catastrophic dangers, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. It is time for our government to be proactive instead of being reactive.
The standards that the McCrory administration is applying to the water, simply stated, have made the water “safe” to drink by simply upping the amount of coal ash chemicals that they deem permissible for human consumption.
Governor McCrory has made a mockery of the state regulations that are supposed to protect the citizens.
A lie doesn’t become truth.
Wrong doesn’t become right.
Evil doesn’t become good.
Just because Duke Energy and Governor McCrory say so!
Denise Lee is a resident of Ansonville and a member of Pee Dee Water, Air, Land and Lives, a chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.
