Coal Ash: More Disasters Waiting to Happen

PA is one of the worst states for burning coal. We are the 3rd leading state in CO2 emissions because of coal. In fact, PA exports 40% of the energy created in this state. As a direct result, we have been dumping coal ash for years. In fact, they have dumped ash in old mines, which is contaminating the water in many areas.

The EPA, and DEP are actually trying to get farmers to put this fly ash on their fields. The say that the mercury and other heavy metals won't affect the food grown there or get into the water.

What they are really trying to do is to dump it for free. Several factories have been set up near Coal power plants to make drywall. They are calling the ash synthetic gypsum, which was what was in the bad Chinese drywall that made many people sick.

Coal-burning power plants are the nation's largest unregulated source of mercury pollution and also emit enormous quantities of lead, arsenic and other hazardous chemicals. Some 1,300 coal fired units at existing power plants spew at least 48 tons of mercury alone into the air each year. Significant human health and adverse effects on wildlife are associated with these emissions. For example, much of the mercury and other metals in power plant plumes fall out within 100 miles of the source, and mercury accumulates up the food chain in fish and in the animals that consume it. Mercury exposure is linked to serious neurological disorders in humans and reproductive and neurological effects in animals. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eight percent of American women of childbearing age have mercury in their bodies at levels high enough to put their babies at risk of birth defects, loss of IQ, learning disabilities and developmental problems.

Dennis Stratton