Duke Energy agrees to remove coal ash in North Carolina
Source: AP
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The state of North Carolina says it has secured an agreement with Duke Energy to excavate nearly 80 million tons (72.5 million metric tons) of coal ash at six facilities.
The Department of Environmental Quality said in a Thursday press release that it will be the largest coal ash cleanup in the nations history. It also settles various legal disputes between Duke and parties that include environmental and community groups.
For decades, coal ash has been stored in landfills or in ponds, often near waterways into which toxins can leach.
Duke Energy will remove coal ash from the Allen, Belews Creek, Cliffside, Marshall, Mayo and Roxboro sites into on-site lined landfills.
Read more: https://apnews.com/802d92f2b11a3838f60c899031b014af
ancianita
(36,164 posts)Throck
(2,520 posts)IIRC NY Thruway Authority was using in their bridge concrete. The small particle size made for stronger concrete and made it less impervious to water thus reducing frost damage.
Hmmmmm...........
quaker bill
(8,225 posts)we make a lot more flyash than anyone can use. A bit of it also goes in asphalt. It is a bit too radioactive, and loaded with heavy metals and arsenic, for other potential uses. Duke energy is not dumping anything it could sell.
keithbvadu2
(36,980 posts)Doesn't say where they are going to put it.
Wonder whose back yard?
Botany
(70,618 posts)Not the best but better than just leaving it as is.
BTW coal fly ash is one of the reasons that all the power plants have switched to
natural gas.
quaker bill
(8,225 posts)FGD = Flue Gas Desulphurization (sludge)
It is a product of stripping SO2 and SO3 from the exhaust gasses to prevent acid rain. It is done by water spray extraction creating sulphuric and sulphamic acids. These are neutralized with powered lime creating an acidic gypsum sludge, and a coal fired power plant makes a lot of it. It is better on the ground than in the air, but only so much better unless you dispose of it well.
It also has the problem of being mildly radioactive and containing some mercury and arsenic. Lovely stuff.
Botany
(70,618 posts)Don't dig up and burn the coal in the first place.
quaker bill
(8,225 posts)gas is far easier on the equipment and leaves little if any residue to deal with. If you make the coal operators cover the expense of properly dealing with the waste, conversions will happen faster and faster. My experience as an environmental scientist in FL included R&D for remediation of this stuff and the quantities are huge.
Botany
(70,618 posts)gas is cheaper
gas is easier to use
gas is cleaner ... still a potent green house gas producer
gas is easier on the equipment
and as you pointed out it doesn't produce tons and tons of dirty byproducts ... fly ash and so on.
Firestorm49
(4,037 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)This crap has breached before!
packman
(16,296 posts)We used to call the reddish crap spewed out from the mills: Red Dog (don't know why-don't ask). I recall literally mountains of it on the way into Pittsburgh. Only good use it had, I heard, was in mixing it with this and that to make some very durable roads. Is that the same as Fly Ash I wonder?
Miguelito Loveless
(4,475 posts)steventh
(2,143 posts)We get to pay for it. But at least it's something worth doing. Unlike when we had to pay for Duke's nuclear power plants.
Miguelito Loveless
(4,475 posts)and, yep, Duke sticks it to the rate payers with the government's blessing.
malthaussen
(17,219 posts)They shouldn't get a choice in the matter.
-- Mal