What to do with toxic coal ash?
By Rowan Wolf I must say that I was more than taken aback when I saw the headline “Turning toxic coal ash into bridges, buildings.” The “best” ways to dispose of the heavy metal containing coal ash are apparently mixing it in concrete, highway construction, using it in wall board, sandblasting, and landfill. Somebody tell me it’s not true. According to Scientific American “coal ash is more radioactive than nuclear waste.” After various studies it has been determined that: the waste produced by coal plants is actually more radioactive than that generated by their nuclear counterparts. In fact, the fly ash emitted by a power plant –a by-product from burning coal for electricity– carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy. Perhaps you remember to billion plus gallon ash sludge spill in Harriman, TN. The ash is full of heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, mercury, thallium, which persist in the enviro
