Sources: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.; CP staff
Conferring with Utility Solid Waste Activities Group officials in Washington, D.C., NCMA Government Affairs staff reports that the Environmental Protection Agency is poised to issue a final Coal Combustion Residuals management and disposal rule late next year.
Read MoreSource: American Coal Ash Association, Farmington Hills, Mich.
Organizers for this year’s World of Coal Ash, April 22-25, in Lexington, Ky., have finalized an agenda featuring 40-plus sessions and 140 presentations on material recycling, marketing and management, plus a schedule for 60-booth exhibit hall and networking events.
Read MoreSources: CP staff; IBA Green Inc., Newport Beach, Calif.
A subsidiary of a publicly traded energy company, Pioneer Exploration, is claiming processes to neutralize the purported toxicity of coal combustion fly ash and waste incineration bottom ash, then recycle treated material into infrastructure-suited geopolymer concrete.
Read MoreLeading up to the MAP-21 legislation that will stabilize federal highway and bridge funding through fall 2014 (note page 8), Capitol Hill saw another sound challenge to the languishing coal ash rule the Environmental Protection Agency proposed two years ago. As concrete producers and allies know all too well, the agency’s “Identification and Listing of Special Wastes: Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) from Electric Utilities” includes an option that would classify impoundment- or landfill-bound coal ash as hazardous waste. Opponents correctly point to the highly negative effect that would have on market prospects for recyclable coal ash products, especially fly ash.
Read MoreSources: American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), Denver; CP staff
An ACAA-sponsored report analyzing the most up-to-date U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) information available concerning coal ash constituents concludes that the concentrations of metals in the material, with few exceptions, are below environmental screening levels for residential soils and similar in concentration to common dirt.
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