Environmentalists say similar federal attention should be paid to the growing use of coal ash in mine reclamation. The U.S. Office of Surface Mining in the Bush administration drafted regulations that environmentalists criticized as too weak, and then did not issue them. The rules are now under review.
In Maryland, 18 mines in Allegany and Garrett counties are permitted to accept coal ash, though it is not clear how many have actually received any.
State officials contend that despite the lack of federal rules, they have imposed safeguards on the decade-old practice of using the ash in mine reclamation in Western Maryland. Both mine and power plant operators have been required to take precautions to prevent stream or ground-water contamination, they say, and the ash has helped to ease the acidic pollution fouling streams, particularly from old underground mines that have long since been abandoned.
"There are some very good uses of this material when properly used," says Paul Petzrick of the power plant research program at the state Department of Natural Resources. The National Research Council agreed in a report, but its panel of independent scientists cautioned that toxic substances in coal become concentrated in the ash after it is burned. They urged enforceable federal requirements for more testing of the ash, of the mine sites and of the water leaving the mines.
Environmentalists say the state-by-state patchwork of oversight isn't enough. An environmental group's study of coal ash dumped in 15 Pennsylvania mines, for instance, found that water quality actually worsened at 10 of them. State officials there dispute the finding.
It's not clear if the ash has put harmful chemicals in Western Maryland waterways. The state has been testing mainly for evidence of acid mine drainage over the years - not for arsenic, lead, selenium and the rest of the toxic potpourri of metals and minerals found in much higher concentrations in ash than in raw coal. Those substances can cause cancer, nerve damage or other health problems for people, fish and insects.
A few months ago, prompted by the Gambrills and Charles County problems, Maryland imposed rules regulating any new landfills where coal ash would be dumped. The state also tightened oversight of ash disposal in mines, ordering more testing of nearby waterways before and as it's being placed in the ground. The tests must check for arsenic and the other toxic chemicals found in ash.
