Monday, January 12, 2009

ABCC's (Ash, Backyards, 'Clean' Coal), the river, me 'n' you ...


Video of area affected by a Tennessee Valley Authority pond breach.
(by Chloe White/knoxnews.com)

Ash is an inevitable waste product of coal combustion. If not dispersed onto the landscape through the smokestacks, then it must be kept, somewhere. According to figures obtained by the Associated Press, 461,700 tons of coal ash is currently stored in New Mexico.


Much of this is near the Four Corners Power Plant...

...and the San Juan Generating Station.
The San Juan River flows between them.

Some area residents have waged a multi-year battle to monitor and control any leaching of toxins into their groundwater. Just over a year ago, High Country News had a primer on coal combustion waste (CCW) in the Four Corners area, written by Jonathon Thompson. Check it out, while contemplating a kayak float on Morgan Lake, with Four Corners Power Plant as landscape.

2 comments:

Ken Wright said...

Outstanding post, B. The video of the breach is so powerful, and with no narration -- it shows the power of video, and the viral spreading of video thanks to the internet, over a mere newspaper article and photo. And the HCN article was excellent -- I had no idea. And the cool moveable google pics -- dood, how'd you do that?? Rock on.

Travis said...

B. Frank....would you be interested in writing a similar article for WilderPress! a new four corners, grassroots publication. The "clean coal" thing is a major topic, and I don't think people truly understand the reality of it all. If you would be interested in writing a piece for the publication we are printing sometime in Feb. Feel free to write me back, or send an article....the address is wilderpress@hushmail.com Thanks for the great post. Hope to hear from you...Stay Wild. Stay Free.