COAL ASH IN ALASKA: OUR HEALTH, OUR RIGHT TO KNOW A Report on Toxic Chemicals Found in Coal Combustion Waste in Alaska February 2011 Lead Author: Sarah Petras, MPH, Alaska Community Action on Toxics Contributors: Sam Byrne, Alaska Community Action on Toxics Russ Maddox, Alaska Center for the Environment Reviewers: David Coil, PhD, Ground Truth Trekking Lisa Evans, Earthjustice Bretwood Higman, PhD, Ground Truth Trekking Pamela K. Miller, Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Contents ExecutiveSummary...4 WeakRegulations&IrresponsibleDisposal...4 LocalContaminationConcerns...4 StudyResults...4 HealthEffects...4 Recommendations...4 AnUrgentProblem...5 WhatisCoalAsh?...5 CoalAshinAlaska sinterior...5 OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow...7 CoalAshSamplingProject...8 Results...8 Arsenic...8 Vanadium...11 Mercury...11 ProtectOurCommunities...12 RegulatingCoalAsh...12 Recommendations...13 Appendix:AnalyticalMethods...14 References...15 Illustration:JoshuaHerbolsheimer/Earthjustice Thewritingisonthewall,thefloor,theceiling,everywhere Arsenic,seleniumandotherpollutantsfromcoalash poseatoxicthreattodrinkingwater, fishandwildlifepopulations, andourhealth. LisaEvans,Earthjustice CoallifecycleillustrationisusedcourtesyofEarthjustice.MoreinformationatEarthjustice.org/energy. CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
ExecutiveSummary WeakRegulations&IrresponsibleDisposal LocalContaminationConcerns StudyResults levelsof arsenicandvanadiumwerefoundatconcentrationsthatmayharmhumanhealth arsenicconcentrationsmorethan100timeshigher mercury was foundatlevels70timeshigherthanbackgroundsoils HealthEffects Recommendations Toprotectourcommunities,weneedcoalash to be regulated effectively as hazardous waste with safeguards for storage, handling, transport and disposal. CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
AnUrgentProblem Alaskans have a right to know about the hazards of coal ash What is coal ash? coalashisthewasteproductremaining aftercoalisburned 141milliontonsofcoalash areproducedannually 79,651metrictonsofcoalash CoalAshinAlaska sinterior DumpingsteamingcoalashinFairbanks,June2010 CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
AuroraPowerPlant Last spring, while selling our handcrafted wood bowls at our local Farmer's Market, a strong north windblewcoalashintothemarketfromwhereitis storedonadjacentproperty.ourproductwascoated withaveryobnoxious,persistentandpervasiveblack ash that was difficult to remove. My concern increased when I discovered there is no regular testingorregulationofthedisposalofcoalashinour community. Coal ash from our power plants is certainlyanuisanceandpossiblyatoxichazard." LocationofAuroraPowerPlant,showingproximitytoChenaRiverand residentialareas Unlinedcoalashlandfill CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow Farmer smarket LocationofFarmer smarket,showingproximityandsizeofneighboring coalashlandfill
OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow GardenplantedinfrontofcoalashloadingbayatUAFcoalfiredpowerplant, June2010 Photo:PamMiller,NorthernAlaskaEnvironmentalCenter CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow EmissionsfromUAFcoalfiredpowerplant
CoalAshSamplingProject (seeappendixfora descriptionofmethods) Results (Figure1)Levels of arsenic and vanadium are present at concentrations that may harm human health CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow Arsenic (Figure2) Figure1ConcentrationsofchemicalsinsoilandcoalashfromFairbanks Notshownareelementswherelittledifferencebetweencoalashandsoilwasobserved(Be,Co,Cr,Mn,Ur, andzn). Datasources:ThesoilandcoalashdatalabeledasACATcamefromthisstudy.TheACATcoalashbaristhe averageofthethreepowerplantsamples.the FBSoil(USGS) datacamefroma1988usgssurveyof Alaskansoils. 10 The CoalAsh (USGS) datacamefromarecentusgsexaminationofcoalashinhealy (usingthesamesourcecoalaswhatisburnedinfairbanks). 11
Figure2ArsenicinCoalAsh mg/kg(ppm)dw 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Arsenicincoalash EPAresidentialsoilstandards Alaskasoilaverage peoplelivingcloseto coal ash disposal ponds may have a higher risk of cancer due to arsenic exposure. more dangerous than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day What are PRGs? Preliminaryremediationgoals(PRG)areasetof standardscreatedtoaidinthecleanupof contaminatedsites.theepaattemptstoget contaminantsbelowtheirprgswhenremediating contaminatedsites.therearemanyotherstandards withwhichtocompare,buttheeparegion9prgs arefairlycomprehensiveinthattheyencompass almostallofthetoxicchemicalsofconcernincoal ash.thepresenceofatoxicantataconcentration belowitsprgdoesnotnecessarilydeemitsafe, althoughthelikelihoodoftoxicexposureislower. CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
SamplingLocations (allsamplescollectedinfairbanksunlessotherwisenoted) UAFPowerPlant A&B(2samples) UAFcoalashloadingbay Sampledmaterial Postedwarningsign AuroraPowerPlant Auroracoalashloadingbay,locateddowntownon1 st AvenuebetweenStateSt&ClearySt Coalburningstove(Ester,AK) Commonresidentialcoalburningstove Residentialfillmaterial A(finegrain)&B(coarsegrain) ResidentialdrivewayoffFarmer slooprd Residentialroadsurface MidnightSunSt,nearCreamer sfield TananaValleyFarmer smarket Unidentifiedbagsofwastedumpedin Farmer smarketparkinglot CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
Vanadium (Figure 3) 20 20 21 Figure3 VanadiuminCoalAsh mg/kg(ppm)dw 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Vanadiumincoalash EPAresidentialsoilstandards Alaskasoilaverage thereisno safe level ofmercuryexposure Mercury Coalashtoxicshavethepotentialto injureallofthemajororgansystems, damagephysicalhealthand development,andeven contributetomortality. PhysiciansforSocialResponsibility,2010 CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
ProtectOurCommunities RegulatingCoalAsh InApril2010,wefoundoutthat coalashwasbeingusedasfilleron anuphilladjacentlotinour subdivision.theashis330feetfrom ourthreeyearoldwellandeven closertoourgarden.weshouldnot betheonestohavetopaytohave toxicwasteremovedfromour neighbor spropertyuphillofours. Thefactthatdumpingthiswasteis allowedandnotillegalis justwrong. RonYarnell,Fairbanksresident Allowing dangerous coal waste to be treated as harmless and inert will only lead to more unnecessarypollutionandriskstohumanhealth. Toxicchemicalsfoundathighlevels infairbankscoalashsamples, andpossiblehealtheffects Arsenic: Vanadium: CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
Recommendations CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
Appendix:AnalyticalMethods CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
References MutationResearch CoalAsh: TheToxicThreattoOurHealthandEnvironment.. 2010, March 5. 12 EnvironmentalHealthPerspectives EnvironmentalHealth PediatricEnvironmental Health CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
Mercury FourthNationalReportonHumanExposureto EnvironmentalChemicals EnvironmentalHealthPerspectives PublicHealthReports Environmental HealthPerspectives ToxicologyandAppliedPharmacology EnvironmentalHealth Perspectives. AmericanJournalof DiseasesofChildren137 NeurotoxicityResearch ReviewsofEnvironmental Contamination&Toxicology CoalAshinAlaska:OurHealth,OurRighttoKnow
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