EPA to give farmers coal in their stockings?

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Federal Officials Promote Use of Coal Waste on U.S. Farms

 

November 17, 2006 12:00 AM Federal officials are promoting the use of a chalky

residue from coal-burning power plants as a fertilizer on U.S. farms, even as

regulators simultaneously consider new rules for the waste, which contains small

amounts of toxic metals.

 

During the Bush administration, U.S. officials began promoting the agricultural

use of a synthetic form of gypsum, a calcium-rich substance produced by the

" scrubbers " that remove acid rain-causing sulfur from coal plant emissions. As a

cheaper alternative to mined gypsum in fertilizing crops, use of so-called flue

gas desulfurization gypsum, or FGD gypsum, has tripled since 2001.

 

 

 

 

 

And with the waste piling up at coal-fired power plants around the country,

officials saw it as a more " beneficial use " than simply burying it in landfills.

But FGD gypsum also contains mercury, arsenic, and lead, and some

environmentalists warn that not enough is known about the environmental and

health effects.

 

Federal officials insist the levels are so low that they pose no hazards to

health. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is crafting the first

U.S. regulations for coal waste storage and disposal in response to a major coal

ash spill from a Tennessee power plant that flooded 300 acres on Dec, 22, 2008

and caused about $1 billion in damage.