Coal Fly Ash Impoundments is the Subject of the Hot Topic Hour on February 19th at 10 a.m. CST Chicago time
Ever since December 22, 2008 when the dike at the fly ash containment pond at the TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant (Kingston Steam Plant) broke and sent a mass of water and sludge flowing into local communities, the press has been full of stories about how toxic this material is and environmental groups have been using this situation along with a lot of erroneous information to whip up the population to prevent any more coal plants from being built. But what is the true story? How toxic is the fly ash and FGD byproducts stored in these ponds? Why did the dike break, and will this happen again at another utility? How does a utility plant manager make sure that his pond is safe? How can a plant monitor the ground water and containment area to be sure it is safe and not leaking? Are there alternatives to using impoundments to dispose of fly ash and other coal combustion byproducts? The truth will be discovered as these and other issues are addressed by the following speakers:
Ari Lewis, an Environmental Toxicologist and the manager of the Toxicology Team at Gradient Corporation, an environmental consulting company will address the question – “Is Coal Ash Toxic?” Her presentation will discuss the basic principles of human health risk assessment and how both toxicological and exposure information must be considered together in order to determine whether a certain substance poses a potential health risk to a specific population. The presentation will explain why it is inappropriate to conclude that a substance, such as coal ash, is toxic without an underlying risk analysis. (508) 224-2907 alewis@gradientcorp.com
Jim Johnson, Golder Associates, will describe a process for removing the water from fly ash and turning it into a stable solid paste. (303) 980-0540 james_johnson@golder.com
Jim Hill, Senior Vice President of Arcadis U.S.,will discuss the risk factors associated with fly ash ponds and the issues that should be considered when designing containment ponds to eliminate or minimize these risks. (312) 425-4117 cell (312) 371 5265 jim.hill@arcadis-us.com
David Goss, Executive Director, American Coal Ash Association, will speak about the challenges facing the utility industry regarding Coal Combustion Byproducts (CCP’s) and the beneficial uses of CCP and FGD byproducts. (720)-870-7897 dcgoss@acaa-usa.org
Dr. John Cooper, President, Cooper Environmental Services LLC, will describe an instrument for monitoring potentially hazardous materials in ground water. (5030 624-5750 jacooper@cooperenvironmental.com
Mike Ruetten, Principal Engineer, AECOM will discuss the risk factors related to containment ponds. 406-3111 cell (920) 680-9384 michael.ruetten@aecom.com
To register for the “Hot Topic Hour” on Thursday, 19th at 10:00 a.m. CST, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/FGDnetoppbroch/Default1.htm .
Bob McIlvaine
847 784-0012