Pool of Trouble

A toxic sludge spill in Tennessee could have been avoided.

THE PEOPLE of Harriman, Tenn., got coal in their stockings three days before Christmas. That's when 1.1 billion gallons of coal plant sludge loaded with pollutants such as lead and arsenic burst from a containment pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant and spread over 302 acres, destroying three homes and damaging more than three dozen others. As bad as this disaster was, what made it worse was the revelation that such pools of pollutants aren't federally regulated. Correcting this stunning lack of oversight must be a high priority for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Fly ash is the byproduct of burning pulverized coal. The fine, glassy particles are usually disposed of in ponds to reduce the spread of dust. An attempt by the EPA in 2000 to classify fly ash a hazardous material to be federally regulated was beaten back by industry. The result is a hodgepodge of rules that permit fly ash to pile up in unlined pools that could leach health-threatening toxins into groundwater, rivers and streams or become unstable and burst. A waste pond at a TVA facility near Stevenson, Ala., ruptured Friday; that the rupture was contained provides little comfort.

According to a report released last week by the Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington-based nonprofit formed in 2002 by former EPA enforcement lawyers, nearly 100 "wet dumps" report toxic metal in their ash at volumes comparable to that found in the pond that burst its banks in Tennessee; all of them appear on a top 50 "worst site" list for at least one of six toxic pollutants (arsenic, chromium, lead, nickel, selenium and thallium). The Stevenson plant made the list for all six. The Harriman facility is on five, as is the Chesterfield Power Station in Chester, Va. The Brandon Shores and Wagner Complex in Baltimore and the Spruance Genco LLC plant in Richmond are each listed on one worst-site list.

Fly ash has some beneficial uses. About 45 percent of it is used in roads or cement. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be regulated. The EPA must issue rules that at a minimum locate fly ash pools away from water sources; require that pools be lined to prevent seepage; and institute frequent monitoring. A Tennessee-style accident shouldn't happen again.