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NEWS SCOPE BY CP STAFF Federal agency data shows fly ash far from hazardous An American Coal Ash Association-sponsored report analyzing the most up-to-date U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) information available concerning coal ash constituents concludes that the concentrations of metals in the material, with few exceptions, are below environmental screening levels for residential soils and similar in concentration to common dirt. "Coal Ash Material Safety – A Health Risk-Based Evaluation of USGS Coal Ash Data from Five US Power Plants" uses scien- tific methods to demonstrate that coal ash does not qualify as a hazardous substance based on its composition and should not be classified as hazardous on a human health risk basis. That finding is contrary to claims of environmentalists lobby- ing for stringent Environmental Protection Agency oversight of coal ash handling and storage. "Anti-coal environmental activists consistently refer to coal ash as 'highly toxic' and 'hazardous to your health' with no re- gard for how those unsupported descriptions damage the en- vironmentally beneficial recycling of the material," says ACAA Executive Director Thomas Adams. "This scientific analysis, taken with other reports, conclusively shows that coal ash is safe and comparable to other common materials. Its use as a recycled material should be encouraged, not disparaged." The report utilizes recently published USGS data on the con- stituents of coal ash collected from power plants in Alaska, In- diana, New Mexico, Ohio and Wyoming—representing a broad spectrum of coal types and environmental conditions. The data showing what metals are present in fly ash and bottom ash were then evaluated using scientifically accepted methods for determining human health risks and compared to EPA-estab- lished residential soil screening levels. That comparison method, notes Lisa Bradley, Ph.D., report TABLE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency benchmark at the heart of the Coal Ash Material Safety report goes deep into the laboratory and periodic table of el- ements. Measured metals: Sb, Antimony; As, Arsenic; Ba, Barium; Be, Beryl- lium; Cd, Cadmium; Cr, Chromium; Co, Cobalt; Cu, Copper; Pb, Lead; Li, Lithium; Mn, Manganese; Hg, Mercury; Mo, Molybdenum; Ni, Nickel; Se, Se- lenium; Sr, Strontium; Tl, Thallium; U, Uranium; V, Vanadium; and Zn, Zinc. TABLES: Coal Ash Material Safety Measured against U.S. EPA regional screening levels for residential soils, fly ash (top table) and bottom ash (lower table) samples from the five power plants exhibit lower levels of 15 of 20 trace metals. Only an Ohio plant's fly ash had an upper-bound arsenic concentration slightly above the agency's risk range (2 in 10,000 versus 1 in 10,000). 14 | JULY 2012 WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM