The city of Athens is looking into switching from using coal ash as an abrasive for skid control on roads in the winter to the use of sand, in response to environmental concerns about the coal ash.
The issue has come up several times over the years, and after at-large City Council member Elahu

Gosney brought it up during an environmental committee last Monday, Mayor Paul Wiehl said he is considering making the switch.

Coal ash, or cinders, is widely used in rural areas of Athens County.

Currently, the city gets its supply of coal ash for free from Ohio University’s heating plant. Switching to sand is estimated to add $30,000 to $40,000 per year to the cost of maintaining city streets in the winter.

Gosney said that some residents object to the use of coal ash because it’s a dirty, cruddy material that gets on pets and clothing and is tracked into their homes. “Others are concerned about the potential toxicity of this waste product that is collected from coal-fired power and heating plants,” Gosney said.

After he found no toxicity analysis in city files, Gosney said he sent a sample out for testing of two types. The first was a chemical composition test, and the second, a leaching test.

“The tests revealed the material contains arsenic, chromium and lead,” Gosney said. “The [Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Potential] test that was performed showed very little release of hazardous materials from the bottom ash.”

But Gosney maintained that the TCLP testing method commonly used to examine leaching has been “highly criticized as being inadequate to reflect real-life leaching potential.” The method involves placing the coal-ash material in a plastic tube with pH-adjusted water or another liquid, and then rotating the tube for several hours, after which point the liquid is separated and tested for the presence of toxins.

“It is difficult to imagine that this test reflects the situation on our streets, where coal ash is mixed with high salt concentrations, ground to powder, left in the elements indefinitely wherever it ends up, and sometimes inhaled by adults and children subject to a biological environment,” Gosney said.

He continued that the National Academy of Sciences and the federal EPA’s Science Advisory Board have both “recognized serious flaws in the TCLP leaching test methodology and called for new testing methods that reflect the true leaching potential.”

For many years, coal ash has been exempt from classification as a hazardous waste, Gosney said, which means that state and federal regulatory agencies have very little oversight. But over the years, there have been calls to re-examine the issue. “When it is not spread on roadways, coal ash is used as embankment fill, an ingredient in concrete mixtures, packed into abandoned mines, or stored in containment bonds or landfills,” Gosney said. “Recently, a report kept secret by the Bush Administration has been released which reveals leaching of toxins from the coal-ash landfills and storage ponds.”

Gosney acknowledged that the major benefit of using coal cinders for snow and ice control is that it’s free. At the very least, he noted, the problem with using coal ash is that it creates a dirty mess on the streets.

“The material is laden with arsenic, chromium, lead and other toxins,” Gosney said. “To my knowledge, there is not a single study that has examined the potential negative environmental impact of using coal ash on public roadways.” He said the obvious alternative is for the city to switch to sand, which, however, is not free.

“For more than 25 years, coal ash has escaped prudent regulation as the toxic and hazardous substance that it is,” Gosney said. “We are spreading millions of pounds of this stuff across the city every winter… There is no question that some of the toxins leach out of bottom ash; the question is how much and what impact does it have… What amount of arsenic and lead is acceptable for us to knowingly add to our local air, soil and water?”

Gosney said he felt the city was obliged to abide by the “precautionary principle to ensure that we are protecting the health of Athens residents.”

The mayor, Gosney said, could switch from coal ash to sand administratively, though he added that he might propose an ordinance that would prevent future mayors from switching back to coal ash.
Mayor Wiehl said he is considering the move and will talk to his public works director.

“I’d be willing to try it for a year and see what it looks like, how it pans out,” Wiehl said. “The conversation goes, it’s going to cost extra money… it would make it cleaner. The downside is that [sand] is more dense than coal ash, and we therefore might have to look in terms of what it does to storm sewers.”

Wiehl said he understands the safety aspect of the issue and is willing to give sand a shot. “Again, it will come down to money and how well we can apply it,” Wiehl said. “To me, this is not a contentious issue. It comes down to money versus application, and then after that, safety.”

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Money First, and THEN safety?
written by Mark McCutchan, July 02, 2009

What is Mayor Wiehl thinking, saying, “To me, this is not a contentious issue. It comes down to money versus application, and then after that, safety.”

Why is safety of Athens citizens not first? The city holds an emergency session to bid on 600 acres of private land (estimated to cost several MILLION dollars) without public notice, but the mayor balks at spending 30-40K for public safety? It's OK for our children to walk through, breathe in, and play with cinders loaded with "arsenic, chromium, lead and other toxins"?

"Free" toxic cinders are no bargain.

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written by Elahu Gosney, July 02, 2009

Just a minor clarification: the city water department had the samples sent out for testing, not me personally.

I would also like to emphasize that use of bottom ash on roadways is not known to cause any health problems, but the nature of it's potential toxicity is a serious concern that has not been studied (to my knowledge). Over the years, most communities that practice this have never thought twice about it, probably largely because the EPA has given it special exempt status as a hazardous waste since 1980.

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