"Brad Heavner" <bsh@EnvironmentMaryland.org> 
02/11/2008 02:12 PM	To
	Group Rcra-Docket@EPA
	cc
	
	bcc
	
	Subject
	EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796 (Coal Combustion Waste)
	
	


February 11, 2008

Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Waste in
Landfills and 
Surface Impoundments
Environmental Protection Agency
Mailcode: 5305T
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460

Re:  Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796
Dear Administrator Johnson:

These comments are submitted by Environment Maryland Research & Policy
Center and describe examples of serious environmental degradation caused
by the disposal of coal combustion waste (CCW) in Maryalnd.  EPA's
failure to issue strong rules or strict guidance on CCW disposal has led
to a weak regulatory program in Maryland, which in turn has endangered
lives.

Late in 2006, the Anne Arundel County Department of Health reported high
levels of contaminants in homeowner drinking water wells along
Summerfield Road in the Gambrills area of the county.  Testing of
residents' drinking water revealed the presence of arsenic, cadmium,
thallium, beryllium, aluminum, manganese and sulfate at levels above
safe drinking water standards.  

The initial group of affected homeowners are all located within about
1000 feet of the B.B.S.S., Inc. sand and gravel mine.  B.B.S.S.,
Reliable Contracting Company and Baltimore Gas and Electric ("BGE") are
filling in the excavated mine through the placement of coal ash and
flyash throughout the site.  The ash is the by-product of the coal
combustion process at the BGE power plants.  To date, there may be as
much as three million tons of coal ash and flyash on the site.

Old sand and gravel pits, when used for disposal purposes after mining
ceases, have historically been the sites of some of the worst hazardous
waste sites in the nation.  This is due to the fact that sand and gravel
mining typically stops when the water table is reached.  "Reclamation"
typically involves re-filling the pit.  

As fill material is placed into the bottom of the pit, it will either be
in direct contact with the water table or very close to it.  With no
natural or man-made clay liner to separate the fill from the water
table, any leachate generated within the fill can freely move downward
into the underlying unprotected water table.  This is of particular
concern when the water table aquifer is used for drinking water supply
as is the case at Gambrills.

The well water contamination in Gambrills arises out of a process
initiated more then ten years ago by BGE, B.B.S.S. and the Maryland
Department of the Environment ("MDE").  In the mid-1990's, the sand and
gravel mining operations were drawing to a close as the pits were dug
deep enough to intersect the groundwater table.  The original mining
permit issued to B.B.S.S. required reclamation of the pits after
operations ceased.  B.B.S.S. satisfied this requirement by filling in
the old gravel pits with coal ash and flyash from the BGE power plants.
This provided an easily accessible source of fill for B.B.S.S. and a low
cost combustion ash disposal solution for BGE.  

The BG&E documentation shows that a base layer of bottom ash was to be
compacted in place and used as a "liner" of sorts to protect the water
table aquifer.  It is notable that the design documents call for the
bottom ash to be placed 4 feet above the water table and to be compacted
to a permeability of 10-5 cm/sec.  Typical landfill liner material
requires compaction to a permeability of 10-7 cm/sec (two orders of
magnitude less permeable) with extensive documentation of compaction
testing during placement/construction.

Lack of adequate regulations

MDE relied heavily on a favorable regulatory regime for the disposal of
coal flyash.  In 1993, the U.S. EPA determined that it was no longer
necessary to regulate coal combustion waste, i.e., coal ash and flyash,
as hazardous waste under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act ("RCRA").  In its determination, the EPA relied on the following
assumptions:  

(i)   the existing state waste management practices were adequate;

(ii)   human populations were not generally directly exposed to
groundwater in the vicinity of a coal-fired utility's waste sites and
public drinking water intakes were usually "at least several kilometers
from the sites"; and 

(iii)   hazardous waste management requirements for combustion waste,
i.e., liners, leachate collection systems, flood protection and
groundwater monitoring, imposed an excessive cost on the utility
industry. 

With respect to the B.B.S.S. mine reclamation operation, the EPA's first
two assumptions do not apply and the third assumption should not be
determinative of the disposal approach.  First, the State of Maryland
and MDE relied on the generalities of the EPA determination and excluded
the disposal of combustion waste from the state solid waste disposal
regulations.  Consequently, the disposal of combustion waste may be
reviewed only generally by MDE in a reclamation plan, such as that for
the B.B.S.S. mine, or by local planning agencies as part of structural
fill, as allowed by Anne Arundel County code.  The result of this loose
regulatory regime is that MDE has allowed the disposal of combustion
waste without rigorous environmental review-a review that typically
should include siting studies and impact analyses.  Such analyses are
important to identify the potential to contaminate the environment,
particularly groundwater which is used as a drinking water source by
either small homeowners or public drinking water services or both.  This
was not done for the B.B.S.S. site.  

Contamination detected, but dumping expands

After reviewing the B.B.S.S. reclamation plan to refill the gravel pits
with coal ash and flyash, MDE issued the permits to begin filling the
Waugh Chapel and Turner mine pits at the Gambrills site.  Filling of the
Turner Pit commenced in March 1995.  Remarkably, as early as July 1998,
BGE detected elevated sulfate concentrations, a prime indicator of coal
ash leachate, in the groundwater beyond the perimeter of the pit.  

BGE conducted studies which predicted that even though sulfate
concentrations were now found outside of the gravel pits, the
concentrations would never exceed the permitted limit of 500 milligrams
per litre ("mg/l").  BGE specifically claimed that sulfate
concentrations would only reach 245 mg/l after 32 years, to about the
year 2027.  As a result, in October 1998, MDE approved expansion of the
ash filling operations at the  Turner pit.     

The following year, in June 1999, sulfate concentrations were found to
be greater than 500 mg/l and reached 2000 mg/l by December 2000.  During
this same time period, MDE authorized BGE to continue to expand its
combustion waste disposal activities in the Turner pit.  MDE also
authorized BGE to initiate filling activities in the Waugh Chapel pit,
which BGE commenced in September 2000.  

As a result of the expanding groundwater contamination, BGE and MDE
agreed on the need for a groundwater recovery system to remediate the
contamination.  During a November 2002 pumping test conducted as part of
the design efforts for the groundwater recovery system, other metals
began to be detected in the groundwater.  Of particular note is the
presence of thallium at concentrations as high as 4 times the MCL
(drinking water standard).  The MCL for thallium is 2 ug/l, and it was
detected at 7 to 8 ug/l.  Other metals, such as arsenic and cadmium,
were beginning to show increased concentrations as well (compared to the
1995 background levels) although not above the MCLs.  

Despite this, in January 2003, MDE issued a new permit which allowed BGE
to expand ash filling over an even greater area of the Waugh Chapel pit.


In May 2004, in an attempt to remove the contaminants from the
groundwater, BGE and Reliable installed the groundwater remediation
system.  From 2004 until 2006 the groundwater remediation efforts
resulted in decreasing sulfate concentrations in the areas close to the
pits, but could not reduce the contamination that extended beyond the
pits to at least Summerville Road.  In fact, the sulfate concentrations
were increasing at the more distant locations, in proximity to the
homeowner wells.  In October 2006, BGE notified MDE that the
contaminated groundwater had reached the homeowners' wells.  At that
point, the Anne Arundel County Health Department notified the nearby
homeowners of the contaminants in their drinking water.

BGE continues to fill in remaining areas of the pits with coal ash and
flyash.  Only recently, MDE has proposed that BGE install a properly
engineered landfill liner and leachate collection system in the future
to prevent the escape of any more contamination from the last ash fill
area.  But the horse is already out of the barn in the previously filled
areas, where the ash is in direct contact with the groundwater and
contamination continues to migrate toward the homeowners' wells and
beyond.  The Anne Arundel County Health Department has recently expanded
the area of concern to cover a much larger area that extends well to the
south of Summerfield Road.   

MDE should have required a site liner and leachate collection system
prior to the commencement of the ash fill operation.  This would have
been the requirement if such operations were strictly regulated under
the state's waste disposal regime.  Instead, the disposal of the
"non-hazardous" combustion waste has resulted in the contamination of
drinking water with a significant potential to adversely affect human
health and the environment, including surface waters leading to the
Chesapeake Bay.  

Fugitive dust emissions are also a problem at this site.  Environment
Maryland Research & Policy Center conducted a dust sampling study in
November 2007.  Eastmount Environmental Services, a Massachusetts-based
air quality consulting firm, coordinated the collection and analysis in
conjunction with EMLab P&K. They analyzed twelve dust samples taken from
three clusters of homes around the dump. Fly ash was detected in all
twelve samples.  Concentrations of the soot particles containing fly ash
ranged from less than one percent to five percent of the dust.

MDE has begun the process of writing stricter regulations for the
disposal of fly ash.  However, preliminary drafts have significant
shortcomings.  I can provide you with our comments on the draft rules if
that would be relevant to your proceedings.  More importantly, however,
it would be far preferable to have consistent national standards that
are fully protective of human health and the environment.

Sincerely,

Brad Heavner, State Director
Environment Maryland 
3121 St. Paul St. #26, Baltimore, MD 21218
410-467-0439 (tel); 410-366-2051 (fax)
bsh@EnvironmentMaryland.org