The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected Denver as one of five sites for public hearings scheduled nationwide on proposed rules for coal ash from power plants.

Reported by Staff

Coal ash, or “coal combustion residuals,” is a solid waste material left over from the burning of coal to produce power. Utilities typically dispose of it in ponds or landfills. In the wake of the December 2008 accident at the Kingston
Fossil Plant, a coal-fired generating station near Knoxville, Tenn., which spilled hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic sludge  into the surrounding community, the EPA compiled a list of disposal sites that constitute a “high hazard” if they fail. National security issues also entered the discussion. Read more about the fallout from the Tennessee disaster here.

Coal ash contains mercury, cadmium and arsenic — contaminants associated with cancer and other illnesses. The federal agency is concerned those pollutants could leach into groundwater and drinking-water sources.

The majority of Colorado’s electricity is still produced by coal-fired plants, but this year a new state law requires utilities to significantly reduce emissions from such facilities.

Currently, Xcel Energy Inc. — Colorado’s largest power utility — generates about 900 megawatts of power at its coal-fired facilities in the state, but is preparing to shutter some of the plants and switch others to natural gas. The company must cut nitrous oxide emissions from several Front Range plants by up to 80 percent within seven years.

The Denver EPA hearing will be held Sept. 2 at the Grand Hyatt, 1750 Welton Street in downtown. It is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and run until 9 p.m.

Interested in speaking? Then you need to pre-register, and
submit a written statement. Each speaker will be given up to three
minutes to state his or her case.

Click here for additional information and to pre-register.