On December 22, 2008, some 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge burst from a retaining pond following rainstorms in Roane County, Tennessee, spilling across 300 nearby acres and into the Emory River. This "toxic tidal wave" damaged homes and the landscape surrounding the sludge pond and generated fears about the sludge's impact on human health.

While a recent series of exams found no adverse health effects on 214 Roane County residents, the disaster served to raise public awareness of the dangers of coal ash, a liquified byproduct generated when coal is burned for electricity. No one denies that the ash is toxic; it's laced with mercury, cadmium and arsenic, heavy metals associated with cancer and other illnesses.  In May of last year, the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to regulate coal ash, citing fears the contaminant could leach into drinking water supplies around the country.  In Illinois, there are more than a dozen sites where liquified coal ash is stored in ponds similar to the one that failed in Eastern Tennessee, the Tribune has reported. 

With hearings about EPA regulation of coal ash now beginning, a new report suggests that the federal environmental agency's scope may not be wide enough. And the report says residents in downstate Illinois may already be at risk.  Entitled "In Harm's Way" and compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice and the Sierra Club, the new report identifies 39 sites in 21 states, including three in Illinois, where coal ash has polluted surface or groundwater.

The 39 sites build upon another 31 (located in 14 states) that EIP and Earthjustice have previously identified, as well as the 67 locations around the county where the EPA presently acknowledges water supplies have been contaminated by coal ash. In sum, environmental advocates have found 137 sites in need of remediation, as compared to the 67 recognized by the EPA. 

The three Illinois sites identified by environmental groups are located in Joliet, Marion, and Venice:

- In Joliet, Midwest Generating's Joliet 9 Generating Station has damaged ground water, drinking water and surface water near the site, according to the report. In all, Midwest Generation has bought out or replaced 18 off-site drinking wells near a landfill where it stores coal ash due to boron pollution. But the report found elevated levels of arsenic, barium, and copper in nearby groundwater last year. The EPA disputed the finding, saying the Joliet wells were shuttered merely because of the potential threat of boron. The report say there are 94 drinking wells "downgradient" to the ash disposal sites.

- In Marion, the report found cadmium levels from unlined ponds and a landfill near the Southern Illinois Power Cooperative were 35 times the federal water quality standard for toxicity in groundwater. Ash pond discharges in Marion were also showed high concentrations of aluminum, boron and manganese last year. Traci Barkley, a water scientist with Prairie Rivers Network, told The Southern newspaper that coal ash and sludge have been placed in six unlined ponds, one unlined landfill and one line pond since 1963 near the plant. There are three wells within a mile radius of the coal ash disposal site.

- Finally, at the Venice Power Station in Venice Illinois, "contaminant plumes" from inactive, unlined ash ponds show, among other issues, arsenic levels exceed standards both on- and off-site from the ponds.

The EPA will hold a hearing about regulating coal ash on September 16 at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Avenue. Pre-register to speak at the session by clicking here.