The aftermath of a giant toxic coal ash spill from the Kingston Fossil plant, Tennessee. Over a billion gallons of toxic sludge was released into the Emory and Clinch Rivers, tributaries of the Tennessee River.
The spill from the Widows Creek Fossil Plant in northeastern
Alabama on 10 January is reported
to contain even more toxic chemicals than the earlier larger spill
from the Kingston Fossil Plant on 22 December.
Described by US broadcaster MSNBC as "giving the coal industry's
clean coal campaign a black eye", the Kingston disaster released
over a billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge into the Emory and
Clinch Rivers, tributaries of the Tennessee River, which supplies
drinking water to millions of people. Widows Creek lies on the same
Kingston spill is 48 times bigger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez
The size of the Kingston disaster, double that of initial
reports, is 48 times bigger than the 1989 Exxon
Valdez oil spill. The sludge that had spilled out of its
storage pool at the 50 year old Kingston Fossil coal-fired power
plant, operated by the TVA toppled houses, muddied rivers and
streams, and before long dead fish were found downstream.
Calling for a
criminal investigation into the Kingston spill Kate Smolski
from our US office said, "If the Exxon Valdez was a symbol of
pollution 20 years ago, the Tennessee Coal Spill of 2008 is the
symbol of it today."
The Widows Creek spill highlights again that there has clearly
been a drastic failure of safety protocols at the TVA, and makes
our demand for a criminal investigation into the failure of the TVA
to prevent the Kingston spill all the more urgent.
Local environmental groups and residents have stated their
intent to sue the TVA under the US Clean Water Act and other
statutes. In addition, the US Senate Environment and Public Works
committee held a hearing to explore tighter regulation of coal ash
to prevent these disasters in the future.
Members of Congress served by TVA have said the spill stands to
affect coal-fired generation across the US.
Coal ash, yet another dirty legacy of burning coal
Coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal, contains significant
amounts of carcinogens and retains the heavy metal present in coal
in far higher concentrations. The toxic sludge contained such
delights as cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, arsenic and benzene
to name a few.
Shockingly, the response of the local authorities was to
utterlydownplay the dangers and to advise people to boil their
water. Thatwould be good advice if boiling water offered protection
from arsenicand lead. But it doesn't.
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tests have found that
water samples near the Kingston spill contain arsenic, known to
promote cancer, at more than 100
times the acceptable level.
Disasters give "clean coal" a black eye
Both disasters are indeed a "black eye" for the clean coal
lobby. They show, yet again, that "clean coal" is a contradiction
in terms. The last few weeks have highlighted coal ash as yet
another drastic example of why coal is always dirty.
As Rick Hind, from our US office said about the Tennessee
disaster "this wouldn't have happened at a wind farm."
Some coal plants claiming to be "clean" may be controlling air
pollution better, but it's not as though their toxic residues no
longer exist - it's just that now they become solid byproducts,
such as fly ash, "stored" in unlined ponds or pits near the plants.
With more than 1,300 dumps across the US, production of these "post
combustion" wastes has dramatically increased in recent years. But,
there has been no proper regulation of coal ash from power plants
by the US government.
The true cost of coal
Coal ash is just one part of coal's filthy legacy. Our
True Cost of Coal report shows that just some of the damages
caused by coal cost the world €360 billion in 2007. Many of coal's
impacts simply can't be assigned monetary values at all, but we are
all paying the price.
From mining to combustion (burning) to waste, coal leaves a
trail of destruction in its wake. Not only is coal the single
greatest contributor to the greatest crisis facing our planet -
climate change; but it is also responsible for air pollution,
illnesses, human rights abuses, forced displacement of communities,
blowing up mountains, contaminating water, drying up lakes,
reducing crop yields and killing people.
In the US alone, some 24,000 people die every year from
illnesses, including heart disease, lung cancer and breathing
ailments, caused by pollution from coal-fired power plants. Just by
Tennessee coal plant that caused the coal spill potentially
cuts short the lives of more than 140 people per year.
It's time to quit coal and save the climate
And that's all before you consider coal's impact on our climate.
Climate change is the greatest threat the world has ever known, its
effects are already killing 150,000 people a year, with millions
more displaced and hungry. The world has enough technically
accessible renewable energy to meet current energy demands six
times over. So what's the excuse for burning coal? That's right,
there isn't one.
We can save the climate but only if we quit coal. Our
Energy Revolution blueprint shows how renewable energy,
combined with greater energy efficiency, can cut global CO2 emissions by 50 percent, and
deliver half the world's energy needs by 2050.
It's time to lay coal to rest for good, and embrace 21st century
solutions, such as wind, wave and solar. These are clean, safe,
reliable, and available faster than new coal plants.
Our vision of a better future is only as strong as the people who support us. Join Greenpeace today and add your voice to the movement that's committed to defending our planet. Your support will make all the difference.