EPA rates 10 Duke coal-ash ponds 'high-hazard potential'

And one of these disasters-waiting-to-happen is 10 miles from my home.

by John Downey, Senior Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ten Duke Energy Carolinas coal-ash retention ponds are on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of 44 potentially high-hazard sites across the nation.

The rating in based on the potential danger to people and property from ash slurry ponds. They do not involve any finding that the retention dams are in danger of failing.

The EPA has inspected all but one of the dams already, says Duke spokesman Jason Walls. The EPA has not inspected the dam at Belews Creek Steam Station north of Winston-Salem.

The agency has not said whether it intends to inspect that dam. Inspection information from Duke and from the state is already available to the agency.

Response to TVA spill

Walls says that in the on-site inspections at the Duke plants, EPA noted no problems that needed to be addressed. But he said the EPA has made no final report as yet. That report on all 44 sites is due later this summer.

Utilities establish the ponds to hold ash from burning the coal that turns the steam turbines at coal-fired plants.

“We are confident based on our monitoring, maintenance and inspections, that each of our ash basin dams have the structural integrity necessary to protect the public and environment,” Walls says.

The list and the subsequent inspections come in response to the failure of a Tennessee Valley Authority dam in December. That released a torrent of coal ash sludge from a 40-acre pond, flooding 15 homes in Harriman, Tenn., west of Knoxville.

Allen, Marshall and Riverbend make list

While some people had to be rescued from their homes, no serious injuries were reported. But the dam failure clearly caused significant damage and created a hazard for local residents.

“The (high-hazard) rating is not an indication of the structural integrity of the unit or the possibility that a failure will occur in the future,” the EPA says in its prepared release. “It merely allows dam safety and other officials to determine where significant damage or loss of life may occur if there is a structural failure of the unit.”

Duke’s 10 sites are one pond at the Allen Steam Plant in Belmont, one at Marshall Steam Station in Terrell, two at Riverbend Steam Station in Mount Holly, three at Buck Steam Station in Spencer, two at Dan River Steam Station in Eden and one at Belews Creek.

Cliffside not rated

Two Progress Energy ponds, at the Asheville Station in Arden, are also on the list. No ponds in South Carolina made the list.

The high-risk designation relates to proximity to populated areas. And the EPA considered state designations of potential hazards in the list. Because N.C. regulators have rated coal-plant retention ponds and designate high-risk ponds near population centers, their listing was automatic.

Duke’s only N.C. pond not on the list is at the Cliffside Steam Station on the Cleveland-Rutherford county line.

Duke operates two retention ponds in South Carolina, one in Kentucky, 16 in Indiana and seven in Ohio. None of those ponds made the EPA list.

American Electric Power, which operates in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia, had 11 ponds on the high-hazard potential list.

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/power_city/2009/06/epa_rates_10_duke_coal-ash_ponds_high-hazard_potential.html

Dominion Virginia Power Proposes Rate Increase

Officials at Dominion Virginia Power are asking to raise power rates by 6.9%.

As a result, the average household bill would go up $7.54 per month. The increase wouldn't just hit homes.

Deb Dove, co-owner of The Mystik Dove in McGaheysville feels that yet another increase by Dominion is unfair.

"Since they just raised it 18-percent last year for the fuel increase, I think they're getting a little greedy at this point," says Deb Dove. She feels the company is taking advantage of its customers

"They know that if they raise it, we have to pay it. Maybe they need to look at some of their costs," says Dove.

A spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power says the increase in necessary to support growth in the commonwealth.

"The reason for the increase it to meet the much needed demand for electricity that Virginia is going to be experiencing over the next several years.

In order to build the much needed infrastructure, we need to start building today," says spokesman David Botkins. "We have to buy commodities like coal, natural gas, uranium and oil, all to generate electricity.

That expense is passed to the customer on a dollar-for-dollar basis, and we simply recoup our expenses," continues Botkins.

The company says the fuel portion of bills will not be raised. Starting July 1st, that portion of your bill is expected to be reduced by 3.3%.

The rate increase must first be approved by the state corporation commission before it can be implemented.

Dominion officials say their electric infrastructure construction project is expected to bring 20-thousand jobs over the next three years.

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/42305717.html

Impact EPA Mining Permit Review : Coal Mining Companies Worried About Mine Permit Reviews

March 27th, 2009

The Obama administration’s decision to hold coal mining permits to a high environmental standard has struck a note of economic fear in Appalachia, where mining — including the kind of mining that blows up mountaintops — has been a shield against hard times afflicting the rest of the nation.

On Tuesday, the EPA announced it will take a closer look at 150 to 200 coal mine permit applications under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. EPA singled out two proposed surface mines in West Virginia and one in Kentucky as a start.

In a break from Bush administration policies, EPA is asserting its authority under the federal Clean Water Act to scrutinize plans to dump mine waste into streams and wetlands.

The National Mining Association estimates EPA’s reviews could threaten 77,500 coal mining jobs and 385 million tons of annual production in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia, Ohio and the Illinois Basin.

But environmentalists see EPA’s decision as an opportunity to end mountaintop removal mining and the region’s dependency on coal, and to spark new jobs by developing renewable energy sources.

Mountaintop removal mining is an efficient but destructive practice where ridgetops are blown up to expose multiple coal seams. Tons of rock, dirt and debris are typically dumped in fills that bury valleys and streams.

Destroying the mountains “also destroys the economic potential of Appalachia,” said Matthew Wasson of North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices. “This decision rekindles hope for a new economy in Appalachia built around green jobs and renewable energy.”

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin met with White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday to clarify EPA’s intentions.

“I told them we are looking for a balance between the environment and the economy, and they assured me that they will work with us to find that balance,” the Democratic governor said in a prepared statement. Manchin said state officials would meet with EPA and coal companies to seek agreements on the applications.

West Virginia is the nation’s second largest coal producer and mine operators like to say coal keeps the lights on. More than 90 percent of the state’s electricity and about half of the nation’s comes from burning coal.

Coal helps keep West Virginia state government in business.

Despite its long history of poverty, West Virginia has largely avoided the budget deficits facing other states because of soaring coal prices that exceeded $120 a ton last year. Coal prices are now declining, but state budget planners still predict total severance tax collections will surpass $400 million this year. The state is expected to receive $320 million of that, or about 8 percent of West Virginia’s total general revenue collections.

Elsewhere in Appalachia, Kentucky and Virginia — which are less dependent on energy production — haven’t fared as well. Both have been dealing with large budget deficits.

Of the estimated 550 mines in West Virginia, 44 percent are surface mines. The importance of surface mining has increased in recent decades as thick underground seams have been mined out. Rock and dirt not used to reclaim the mines are dumped in valley fills.

“There isn’t very much coal production that can be done in a state without a valley fill,” said Randy Huffman, secretary of West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Rory McIlmoil, an activist with West Virginia’s Coal River Mountain Watch, said environmentalists now have at least a six-month window to strengthen arguments for the creation of green jobs in alternative energy industries.

Restoring former mine lands, building wind farms and developing sustainable forestry jobs are all part of the solution — and all jobs that strip miners can be trained to take, McIlmoil said.

Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Caylor predicts economic devastation for the eastern half of his state, the nation’s third-largest coal producer behind Wyoming and West Virginia.

“We would lose half our production in east Kentucky,” Caylor said. That adds up to more than 46 million tons from mines that employ more than 6,000 miners earning $354 million in direct wages.

Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear said he too is seeking to clarify EPA’s intentions so permits could be reviewed and issued more quickly.

Retired underground coal miner Chuck Nelson said coal mining and environmental protection are not an either-or proposition.

“We worked underground before mountaintop removal. We had 68,000 coal miners in West Virginia, and that was in 1977,” said Nelson, 53, a member of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. “They don’t have to blow the mountaintops off and destroy the communities to get the coal.”

The coal industry has been bracing for tougher permitting standards since March 2007 when a federal judge in West Virginia ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hadn’t done enough to determine if valley fills would damage water resources downstream. The ruling was later overturned.

Mountaintop mining became a topic of debate during last year’s presidential elections when both candidates said they opposed the practice. John McCain said he would ban it. Then-candidate Barack Obama said he had concerns but stopped short of calling for a ban.

Industry executives have consistently told Wall Street that opening new underground mines and other actions would largely stave off production problems until 2010. And they’ve insisted mountaintop mining will continue in the region, even if it takes more time and money to get permits — and raises the price of coal and electricity.

U.S. Senators Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) moved Wednesday to end the practice. Their Appalachia Restoration Act on Wednesday that would amend the Clean Water Act to prohibit mining wastes from filling streams.

http://paguntaka.org/2009/03/27/impact-epa-mining-permit-review-coal-mining-companies-worried-about-mine-permit-reviews/