Sierra Club discusses disposal of coal ash

The ongoing dispute over the use of unclean energy sources continued this week at an environmental conference in Charlotte.

Students from UNC’s Sierra Club attended an Environmental Protection Agency conference to advocate for one of two new recommendations to regulate the use of coal ash.

Coal ash is produced after coal is burned to create electricity. After coal is burned, the remains are shipped to ash deposits.

Ash deposits are often near ponds filled with potential drinking water.

Erin Culbert, spokeswoman for Duke Energy, said that this a problem that needs to be fixed.

“It is important to protect water quality in the surrounding community,” Culbert said.

Duke Energy, the primary supplier of North Carolina’s electricity, has found contaminated water in the ponds near all 13 of its coal ash deposits.

At the conference, the EPA proposed two ideas for regulating coal ash through modifications to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which is in place to regulate hazardous waste.

Erica Geppi, N.C. Sierra Club’s coal ash coordinator, said the conference was a positive day and that a majority of the speakers were in support of more stringent regulations on coal ash.

The favored recommendation by the UNC Sierra Club was a modification to classify coal ash as special waste —different from the hazardous waste classification.

The new classification would require states to set equivalent standards for generation, storage, transportation and disposal of the ash.

Stewart Boss, UNC Sierra Coalition co-chairman, said that while the cost of these modifications are high, he preferred this recommendation because it would be a better benefit for the environment.

Companies would be required to have permits to handle coal ash and would be responsible for cleaning up any environmental accidents created by their current coal ash practices.

The second recommendation, which would allow for the continued use of ash to create concrete and other supplies, was favored by many Duke Energy representatives, Culbert said.

The practice contributes $9 billion to the U.S. economy annually, she said.

Contact the State and National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.