COAL ASH FACTS
COAL ASH FACTS AT PLANT BARRY
Coal ash is a catchall term for several kinds of waste left over after coal is burned for energy at power plants. It contains heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, and cobalt among others. When this residue is mixed with water, it creates a thick heavy sludge. This is the material that is stored in coal ash ponds across America.
Alabama Power’s Plant Barry is located 25 miles upstream of Mobile Bay. Its coal ash storage pond sits within the 100 year flood plain of the Mobile River. This lagoon is unlined and covers an area equal to 451 football fields, containing 21 million tons of coal ash sludge. In many places it is within 100 to 200 yards of the river, with only a dike made of dirt, clay, and coal ash separating it from the river.
If there were a major rainfall event or a hurricane near the site, the dike could be breached, and according to Alabama Power's Emergency Action plan, the coal ash sludge would cover 30 square miles of the delta and flow down the Mobile River towards the bay. The resulting spill would be 20 times the volume of the BP oil spill and would be only 20 miles from the head of Mobile Bay. Baykeeper picture of dike submerged by flood water and picture of map with orange colored area indicating inundation area.
Inundation Area
Coal ash dam failures have occurred and are devastating to the health of clean-up workers and residents, the environment and the economies of spill locations.
The 2008 Kingston Coal Ash spill covered 300 acres, damaged multiple homes, filled two rivers with ash, and resulted in the deaths of 50 cleanup workers. Estimated cost for damages and the cleanup was $3 billion.
In 2014, a power plant spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River, estimated to cost the region $295 million. Other spills in North Carolina and elsewhere have had lasting and damaging impacts on the public health, economy, and environment of surrounding areas.
Photos: (top) Kingston, TN, 2008; (bottom) Dan River, NC, 2014;
What happens when coal ash gets into the water supply?
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Over time, heavy metals in the ash can escape into nearby waterways and contaminate drinking water. Exposure to coal ash is linked with a heightened risk for cancer as well as heart damage, reproductive problems, neurological disorders, and other serious health conditions.
(Union of Concerned Citizens, 2017) https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/coal-and-water-pollution
Plant Barry On-Site Toxic Waste
Monitoring Wells
Alabama Power's permitted plan to remediate this danger is called “cap in place” which means the coal ash is dewatered, consolidated, and covered with a material to seal it in. However, this is not a long-term solution as it does not address the ongoing leakage of toxic heavy metals into the groundwater or the possibility of a breach of the dirt dike.
REPORT CARD:
SOUTHEASTERN UTILITIES COAL ASH REMOVAL
Other utilities in the southeast, including Georgia Power, are economically removing 250 million tons of coal ash thus protecting their cities and rivers. Alabamians deserve the same.
In January, 2024, Alabama Power announced plans to build a recycling plant capable of processing 700,000 tons of coal ash per year for use in concrete products. Recycling has been the preferred method of closing ash ponds in other states. While this is a major shift in the company’s position, there are still several unresolved questions. Alabama Power does not plan to amend its “cap-in-place” plan or its state closure permit. A spokesman for the company has said that any ash that is not recycled will still be buried on the bank of the Mobile River, so the extent of the cleanup remains to be seen.
For every ton of coal ash recycled into concrete, about one ton of greenhouse gas emissions is avoided.
For comprehensive understanding of coal ash issues at Plant Barry read Mobile Baykeeper's 2018 POLLUTION REPORT: "Coal Ash at Alabama Power’s Plant Barry"
Coal Ash Action Group will continue with the awareness campaign until Alabama Power commits to recycling and removing all stored ash from the Plant Barry Pond.