Angry residents grill officials about coal ash
By Tony Bartelme
ST. STEPHEN — Angry residents from the Tobacco Road area demanded Monday that Santee Cooper test their drinking water for toxic chemicals, saying they feared contaminants from tons of coal ash placed on the road in 2004 may be affecting their health.
The Post and Courier
Dust flies into the air as a truck makes its way down Tobacco Road last month. Several years ago, Santee Cooper took 425 tons of fly ash and put it on Tobacco Road, an unpaved lane that snakes through swamps near St. Stephen in Berkeley County. Residents, who are concerned about the effect of the dust on their health, sought answers at a meeting Monday night.
In a meeting at a church near the unpaved road, residents grilled top Santee Cooper and Berkeley County officials for nearly two hours, asking why the utility used fly ash on their road and when the county might pave it.
Bill McCall, Santee Cooper's vice president, said the Environmental Protection Agency doesn't classify fly ash as a hazardous waste and that he didn't think the project created any health or environmental hazards.
He told residents he would get back to them within a week about their request for drinking water and dust tests.
Earlier this month, Post and Courier Watchdog revealed that Santee Cooper and Berkeley County crews placed 425 tons of fly ash on the road that likely contained traces of arsenic, lead, barium and other toxic chemicals.
The utility used a dust suppressant that officials said would bind the ash to the soil and prevent it from getting into the water table.
About 40 residents gathered at the New Life Baptist Church. Many said they were skeptical about Santee Cooper's claims that the fly ash project didn't pose any dangers to their drinking water or lungs. Several said the road was a dusty mess that makes them sick, and that the dust felt different from other dirt roads in the county.
"I'm the one paying the medical bills," said Trish Cammer Crain, who said she was worried that toxic dust and contaminated drinking water might be the cause of some of her health problems.
Previous story
Coal ash on Tobacco Road, published 03/16/09
Another resident, Amanda Wilder, said her family also suffered unexplained maladies. "Nobody can tell what's wrong on this road," she said.
When McCall explained that Santee Cooper did the project to determine whether it was economically feasible to use ash on unpaved roads, one resident shouted, "So we were guinea pigs?"
McCall said the project was done with the approval of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control and that he believed the road's dust problem was from limestone graded onto the road over the years, not from any fly ash.
That prompted William Lynch, another resident, to ask where the ash went. "And why did you quit using it if it was so good?"
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Steve C. Davis, a Berkeley County councilman, urged residents to pressure the county and Santee Cooper to test their drinking water, and he challenged McCall's reassuring comments about the hazards of fly ash and DHEC's role. "DHEC is nothing but a political tool," he said.
Concerns about coal ash have grown in recent months here and across the country.
A Watchdog report last fall revealed that utility ash ponds and landfills were polluting groundwater with arsenic and other toxic chemicals. In December, a pond in Tennessee failed, spilling millions of gallons of ash waste laden with arsenic, eventually triggering a nationwide review of ash waste laws. Last week, 400 residents in Virginia filed a $1 billion lawsuit, alleging that a utility and a developer used fly ash to build a golf course, and this ash tainted drinking wells.
The EPA in the late 1990s nearly classified coal ash as a hazardous waste but backed away under pressure from coal interests and utilities. Among other things, officials from these industries argued that classifying ash as hazardous could hurt efforts to recycle coal ash.
Every year, American coal-fired plants generate 130 million tons of coal ash. More than half goes into landfills and retention ponds, though utilities in recent years have made great strides finding ways to reuse it. Fly ash, for instance, is often used as a substitute for cement in concrete.
During the meeting, Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis said that the county would begin engineering work later this spring to pave the road. Construction could begin about six months after that, he said.
But residents said that even if the road is paved, they wonder how the ash will affect them in years to come. "We've been breathing this dust and drinking the water for four years now," Wilder said. "It's in our bodies."
Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
Luna (anonymous) says...
When McCall explained that Santee Cooper did the project to determine whether it was economically feasible to use ash on unpaved roads, one resident shouted, "So we were guinea pigs?"
****************************
Yes, they used you to see if coal ash was viable......now they know it is not and you are sick.
March 31, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
They could have at least kissed you first.
March 31, 2009 at 11:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
Come on... are they sure Arsenic is bad for you... I think we need more test before we jump to conclusions.
I think ethylene glycol may help settle the coal ash! Strychnine could also help.
March 31, 2009 at 12:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
Or heavy petting....geeeze.
March 31, 2009 at 1:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
This won't hurt one bit....
The check is in the mail...
At least take them to a movie first!!!!
March 31, 2009 at 1:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
Bend over please....(glove snap)
March 31, 2009 at 2 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
OK.. you had me at Hello!! ;)
March 31, 2009 at 2:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SCHoser (anonymous) says...
What the residents are really trying to say is: CHA-CHING!
Seriously, the least Santee Cooper could do is test the damn water and surrounding area-not rocket science there! Why they wouldn't do it without being asked is a mystery! Lack of common sense!
March 31, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
ummmmm the poison may have already been there... yeah thats it...
March 31, 2009 at 2:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
No one else will play with me:(
They all think I'm sick and twisted.....which is correct, but just how boring is life without a little crazy?
Seriously though.....they used these people and are now saying what? Sorry? It'll be OK, just trust me? (like having hanky panky without making sure there is protection).
Then when they finally have testing done and find out they are all sick and their wells are toxic, darn spanky they will fight the ultimate lawsuits to come!
Blue eyes is correct DHEC is in the "big corporate" pocket!
March 31, 2009 at 2:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
yet another eminem reference!!!!!
March 31, 2009 at 2:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
Slim Shady is my hero!
I'm interesting, the best thing since wrestling
Infesting in your kids ears and nesting
Testing "Attention Please" feel the tension soon as someone mentions me
here's my 10 cents my 2 cents is free
A nuisance, who sent, you sent for me?
March 31, 2009 at 2:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
uhoh.. she is on a roll now
March 31, 2009 at 2:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
So, is this the only road in SC they experimented on? Or are there others with quieter voices or just plain stupid to what was done to their area?
March 31, 2009 at 2:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
Just wait for the children to grow up and check the standardized test scores.... ummm nevermind, that won't show anything!
March 31, 2009 at 2:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
So far....the only thing I find for highway construction is use in concrete and cement. Once it is encased it seems safe. but free flying............?
cuz it seems so empty without me.......na na na na na
March 31, 2009 at 2:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
I think they have some of that safe concrete at Savannah River Plant... If they bought the Poison ash, this should be a simple sale.. just dont stand on it too long and it should be OK!
its filling up!......na na na na na
March 31, 2009 at 2:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
Yep, start having pee that glows!!!!
The EPA file I found said nothing about dirt roads. Wonder what genious in Columbia thought this would be a good idea?
May I have your attention please?
March 31, 2009 at 3:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
Who needs Highway stimulus money when we have all of this excess Coal Ash!!!!
March 31, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PINES (anonymous) says...
Visit our website:
http://www.pineswater.org/
The Town of Pines Indiana is a USEPA Superfund Site. Coal ash was dumped on the roads and in an unlined landfill. Read the story.
March 31, 2009 at 3:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
OHMYGOD! They just screwed you guys and they are doing the same thing here!
How do these people sleep at night? Have they gotten long term results on the effects to the people?
Thanks PINES, that was one of the best links anyone has ever provided. Wonder what the normal fear mongering repulitards would think about that? It would probably be Obama's fault in their eyes!
Can't be your superman,
Your superman, your superman...
March 31, 2009 at 3:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Luna (anonymous) says...
PEACE OUT! Catch you on the flip side!
March 31, 2009 at 3:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eyeinthesky (anonymous) says...
Well that was in 2000 and 2002... they may have forgotten that coal ash contained Arsenic and other assorted poisons.
I think of the wind blows just right, i probably inhale some of that stuff....
Has anybody seen Erin Brockovich?????
March 31, 2009 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
newbattleaxe (anonymous) says...
Do any of y'all know how long it takes surface contaminants to filter into aquifers? Or, how much of the contaminants are filtered out?
Or, that the Post and Courier has had it in for Santee Cooper for about 50 years?
Do some research. I have.
March 31, 2009 at 7:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PINES (anonymous) says...
Eyeinthesky has a hopeful outlook in believing that PINES "may have gotten that coal ash contained." Unfortunately, we are still winding our way through the Remedial Investigation phase of the Superfund process. Next comes a Feasibility Study, then the Human Health Risk Assessment, then the Ecological Risk Assesment and finally the Record of Decision. It is a long process. Some residents were taken off their well and put on municipal water piped in from Michigan City and others are on bottled water, but there has been no cleanup yet. It will take years and the outcome is not certain.
How long it takes surface contaminants to filter into aquifers? According to an EPA document on our website, it may take several hundred years to reach the maximum discharge of contamination from a coal ash landfill.
March 31, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
palmetto62 (anonymous) says...
Here is some news for the P&C bred uninformed. Fly ash has been used as a agrigcultural soil amendment for years. Yes thats right. It has been mixed with soil for your peanuts and tomatoes but P&C does not see the need to mention this. Google coal fly ash soil amendment and find that this is a common practice. Also see where a florida university studied its contamination effects and found little effect on produce. I think that the rate application was about 22,000 lbs per acre and no effect on the produce. This is done in SC at the time of this writing. I would think that if the P&C was interested in your health they MIGHT look at this to compare what Santee did. They only want to beat on Santee. Apparently there is about a 50,000 tons of annual agricultural use of fly ash nationally for soil amendment for food. I would think that if this was toxic, a class action suit would be going on? It aint mother nature but it's not Love Canal like most of the sheep that posted here believe. Go look for yourself. Farmers been growing produce in it for years. People, read something before you just drink up.
March 31, 2009 at 10:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scfirefly (anonymous) says...
The only thing that's harmed these people is Tony Bartelme and the Post and Courier. They've clearly been needlessly frightened.
"Likely [not definitely?] contained traces [how miniscule?] of..."
Shouldn't you mention that the commonly used limestone as well as pristine soil also "likely contains traces of" the same stuff. What actual evidence is there that something is wrong? The road is dusty? What a shock!
Bartelme is yelling fire in a crowded theater, irresponsibly creating a panic.
April 1, 2009 at 7:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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