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Many of the working-class areas of Great Lakes shore have similar problems.  So, if a problem arises in Alpena or along Saginaw Bay, that problem often has application for Monroe County and the rest of southeast Michigan.

So, I’ve been reading the Bay City Times with interest recently.  The writers at that paper are covering the story of leaking fly ash dumps owned by Consumers Energy.  Fly ash is what remains after coal has burned in a power plant.  It can be reprocessed and used for a variety of industrial applications.  However, much of it is dumped into diked disposal facilities.

And the easiest and cheapest locations for these fly ash depositories is right next to the plant involved.  And since most power plants in Michigan are found along the lakeshore, we have many fly ash dump sites next to one of the greatest concentrations of freshwater on the planet.

In most instances, this is a perfectly safe situation.  Materials line the dump sites and keep contaminants from leeching into the groundwater and lake.

But the Bay City Times and concerned citizens have been learning that the Consumers Energy facilities at the mouth of the Saginaw River have been leaking into Saginaw Bay.

Why should this concern our area?  Well, we are eventually downstream from all pollutants in the lakes.  But more importantly, we also have lots of shoreline devoted to fly ash disposal.  We need to understand it.  And we need to make sure that the disposal sites maintain their structural integrity.

Excerpt and link:

Mercury, which affects brain development, is bioaccumulative and magnifies in the food chain. People usually are exposed to it by eating fish.

Mercury has been found in excess of state standards outside the landfill walls, Walkington said.

But the element, while present in coal, also is naturally occurring in soil and groundwater in the area, and could be contained in old river dredging spoils inside the landfills.

“We’re saying we don’t have any evidence that mercury is leaking out of the landfills,” Walkington said. “I’m not saying it isn’t.”

Walkington also acknowledged that levels of arsenic leaking from the landfills include bioaccumulative types of arsenic, a human carcinogen.

“More and more I’m thinking it needs public exposure,” said Terry Miller, Lone Tree chairman. “I think more eyes need to look at this thing. It’s just larger and more complex than I think that we’ve known.”

But Walkington said Consumers Energy has taken steps to improve the situation, although those improvements will only slow the movement of toxics to Saginaw Bay, not eliminate it.

The company is spending about $3 million to install a slurry wall, keyed into underlying clay, to slow the flow of toxics from a 292-acre Weadock ash landfill. The company has similar plans to fix a 172-acre Karn ash landfill in coming years.

Walkington said he’s declining to discuss the matter in public because the DEQ is negotiating a consent agreement with Consumers that will include plans for the slurry walls and a monitoring program, but not a fine.

Full story:

http://blog.mlive.com/bctimes/2008/11/ash_landfills_continue_to_stir.html

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