4 ms·

Do you have some more information about where those old ponds are located? Thanks!

leetrout 6y ago
Coal operations have slurry ponds where they store the sludge from washing the coal. And coal power plants have fly ash ponds which are bad for the environment. We’re shutting down the coal plants but these ponds will be around forever. Here is a map of ash ponds from power plants https://earthjustice.org/features/map-coal-ash-contaminated-sites https://earthjustice.org/features/map-coal-ash-contaminated-... Here’s a link to the slurry spill I lived through with no water for days https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_coal_slurry_spill https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_coal_slurry_sp... And here’s some pictures of the “impoundments” https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8693/coal-sludge-impoundments-west-virginia https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8693/coal-sludge-im... Edit to add this quote: “ Although coal impoundments have a relatively low rate of failure, their extreme size—some hold more than a billion gallons of sludge—makes any breach potentially devastating.”
- horstmeyer 6y ago
  Thank you! Very interesting and frightening.
- vgeek 6y ago
  Another large spill that hardly anyone has heard of: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_f...
- IgorPartola 6y ago
  I am curious what you could do with all this. I was under the impression that ash could be composted pretty well. It is organic material after all. Or is the issue the other added chemicals?
  - pfdietz 6y ago
    Ash is not organic material.
  - vgeek 6y ago
    Ash from wood may be compost-able, but I think the leftovers from burning coal can contain arsenic, mercury and lead among other things. There are also instances of the fly ash being radioactive. u/leetrout hints that they are from WV/EKY area, where hilly terrain can make stashing fly ash in slurry ponds less visible (but more susceptible to contaminating small streams undetected). Specifically in the eastern KY/OH regions, there massive impoundments <500 yards from navigable rivers (since barges transport to plants and water used in generation), so if they break, the sludge won't have far to travel to contaminate major waterways. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html - information regarding some of the byproducts.
  - m4rtink 6y ago
    Power plant and incinerator fly ash contains heavy metals and other poisonous substances so needs to be separated to prevent environment contamination. But I guess you could turn it into bricks and isolate those instead or even use them as building materials in some form of infrastructure.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
smackay 6y ago
There is a gruesome death trap in Montana, https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.22/latest-thousands-of-snow-geese-die-in-a-toxic-lake-in-montana https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.22/latest-thousands-of-snow-ge...

Coal operations have slurry ponds where they store the sludge from washing the coal. And coal power plants have fly ash ponds which are bad for the environment. We’re shutting down the coal plants but these ponds will be around forever. Here is a map of ash ponds from power plants https://earthjustice.org/features/map-coal-ash-contaminated-sites https://earthjustice.org/features/map-coal-ash-contaminated-... Here’s a link to the slurry spill I lived through with no water for days https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_coal_slurry_spill https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_coal_slurry_sp... And here’s some pictures of the “impoundments” https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8693/coal-sludge-impoundments-west-virginia https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/8693/coal-sludge-im... Edit to add this quote: “ Although coal impoundments have a relatively low rate of failure, their extreme size—some hold more than a billion gallons of sludge—makes any breach potentially devastating.”

horstmeyer 6y ago
Thank you! Very interesting and frightening.
vgeek 6y ago
Another large spill that hardly anyone has heard of: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_fly_ash_slurry_spill https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_f...
IgorPartola 6y ago
I am curious what you could do with all this. I was under the impression that ash could be composted pretty well. It is organic material after all. Or is the issue the other added chemicals?
- pfdietz 6y ago
  Ash is not organic material.
- vgeek 6y ago
  Ash from wood may be compost-able, but I think the leftovers from burning coal can contain arsenic, mercury and lead among other things. There are also instances of the fly ash being radioactive. u/leetrout hints that they are from WV/EKY area, where hilly terrain can make stashing fly ash in slurry ponds less visible (but more susceptible to contaminating small streams undetected). Specifically in the eastern KY/OH regions, there massive impoundments <500 yards from navigable rivers (since barges transport to plants and water used in generation), so if they break, the sludge won't have far to travel to contaminate major waterways. https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html - information regarding some of the byproducts.
- m4rtink 6y ago
  Power plant and incinerator fly ash contains heavy metals and other poisonous substances so needs to be separated to prevent environment contamination. But I guess you could turn it into bricks and isolate those instead or even use them as building materials in some form of infrastructure.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

smackay 6y ago

There is a gruesome death trap in Montana, https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.22/latest-thousands-of-snow-geese-die-in-a-toxic-lake-in-montana https://www.hcn.org/issues/48.22/latest-thousands-of-snow-ge...