Coal Ash Pond Release in Tennessee - Why It's Not a Hazardous Waste

Many people have seen the horrendous release of flyash and other coal combustion byproducts from a Tennessee Valley Authority ash pond in Tennessee. Newspaper stories and blogs have been written about it, including this one from the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Most of them focus on the supposedly hazardous nature of flyash (which I'm using as a generic term for all coal combustion byproducts). The stories and blogs suggest, or outright declare, that the flyash should be regulated as a hazardous waste, and that somehow the Bush Administration is responsible for blocking such a designation. The truth is a little more complicated.

At the risk of terribly oversimplifying, flyash is not regulated as a hazardous waste because Congress, in 1980, wanted to carefully study certain high volume, low toxicity wastes before subjecting them to expensive hazardous waste regulation. This is referred to as the Bevill Amendment. Those studies were done, and the authors concluded that flyash should not be regulated as a hazardous waste. If it were, it would be subject to extensive treatment requirements, including a general prohibition on placing it on the ground. It would eliminate the beneficial uses of flyash in concrete, as roadbase, and for other purposes. And it would increase the cost of electricity.

The Environmental Council of States recently passed a resolution that encouraged EPA to continue to regulate flyash as a non-hazardous waste. It briefly describes some of the history of the Bevill Amendment. For those who want to know a little more about the Bevill Amendment, you might try starting here at the EPA site.