Spills Put Coal Ash on Obama Environmental Agenda

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: NYT/AP

Coal ash spilled onto Barack Obama's agenda Wednesday when his pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency spoke of possibly regulating the waste from coal-fired power plants.

Lisa Jackson promised at a Senate hearing to immediately assess the hundreds of coal ash disposal sites at power plants across the country in the wake of two spills in Alabama and Tennessee. The EPA also will consider whether to regulate how the ash is stored, she said. The EPA recommended that in 2000, but the Bush administration did not act on the idea.

''The EPA currently has, and has in the past, assessed its regulatory options, and I think it is time to re-ask those questions,'' Jackson told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Coal ash ponds storing waste created by burning coal are not subject to federal regulations. Oversight of the roughly 300 ponds located in 32 states varies by state.

Since the spills at two plants operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, several lawmakers have urged the EPA to regulate the disposal of ash as a solid waste. Others have asked questions about why the agency does not consider the ash to be hazardous waste even though it contains toxic ingredients....

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/01/14/washington/AP-EPA-Administrator.html