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AEPCO, EPA agree on Apache Station coal ash waste sites
Carol Broeder/Wick communications
The dams for the coal ash ponds near Cochise are safe, company officials say.
The Environmental Protection Agency on July 6 released a list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal-fired power plant waste sites.
It included the ponds that hold materials from the Apache Station Combustion Waste Disposal Facility, which is operated by Arizona Electric Power Cooperative.
With its seven storage ponds, the Cochise site constitutes the largest concentration in the state. The other Arizona site on the list is near Joseph City, which is 20 miles east of Winslow.
Apache Station uses Boral Material Technology Inc., which provides coal-fired power generating plants with on-site ash handling and management, environmental services and engineering services. "As part of its ongoing efforts to protect human health and the environment," the EPA posted the list of impoundments (ponds) containing coal combustion residuals, commonly known as coal ash, at 26 different coal burning electric utility facilities, said the agency's June 29 statement.
"Our ponds are in great shape," said Geoff Oldfather, AEPCO's Cooperative Communications and Public Relations Manager.
The company "welcomes the EPA report and continues, as it has since the facilities in question were built, to welcome agency and public examination of its facilities, operations, and most of all, our exemplary safety record," he said in a statement issued June 29.
"There have been no known spills or unpermitted releases within 10 years since the ponds listed in the EPA report were built and went into service," Oldfather said.
These ponds "are inspected daily, weekly, and monthly by AEPCO personnel and yearly by the Arizona Department of Water Resources Dam Safety and Flood Mitigation Division," he said.
He points out "neither the EPA nor the ADWR have ever found any violations of safety or other standards and no safety issues have been uncovered in the last year during inspections by the ADWR."
So why the "high hazard" rating?
That rating would be in place "whether it's coal ash or water," Oldfather told the Range News.
"It has nothing to do with the safety of the facility," he said.
"The EPA ranking takes into account factors not directly related to the facilities themselves, such as residences that may be in the vicinity that could be affected should a breach or other event occur," Oldfather said.
In this case, there are two residences - one a third of a mile away and the other one mile away - that are within the computer-modeled inundation area, he said.
The EPA's own statement seems to echo reassurances made by AEPCO.
"A high hazard potential rating is not related to the stability of those impoundments, but to the potential for harm should the impoundment fail," the statement said.
"The presence of liquid coal ash impoundment near our homes, schools, and businesses could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
"By compiling a list of these facilities, EPA will be better able to identify and reduce potential risks by working with states and local emergency responders," she said.
Since the December 2008 failure of a coal ash pond at the TVA facility in Kingston, Tenn., the EPA has been gathering information on coal combustion residual ponds from electric utilities nationwide.
It also has been conducting on-site evaluations to determine the ponds' vulnerabilities.
"Working closely with other federal agencies and the states, EPA will review the information gathered from this investigation and will require appropriate action at any facility that is found to pose a risk," the EPA statement said.
"The results and analysis of this investigation will be compiled in a report and made available to the public and will help strengthen our ability to protect the American people, which is our foremost and urgent priority."
EPA spokeswoman LaTisha Petteway, in Washington, D.C., told the Range News last week the final report would not be completed until the end of the year.
"These inspections are done annually," Oldfather told the Range News. "The only difference now is that the current (Obama) administration wants it released to the public."
(Carol Broeder is a reporter at the the Arizona Range News in Willcox.)
The dams for the coal ash ponds near Cochise are safe, company officials say.
The Environmental Protection Agency on July 6 released a list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal-fired power plant waste sites.
It included the ponds that hold materials from the Apache Station Combustion Waste Disposal Facility, which is operated by Arizona Electric Power Cooperative.
With its seven storage ponds, the Cochise site constitutes the largest concentration in the state. The other Arizona site on the list is near Joseph City, which is 20 miles east of Winslow.
Apache Station uses Boral Material Technology Inc., which provides coal-fired power generating plants with on-site ash handling and management, environmental services and engineering services. "As part of its ongoing efforts to protect human health and the environment," the EPA posted the list of impoundments (ponds) containing coal combustion residuals, commonly known as coal ash, at 26 different coal burning electric utility facilities, said the agency's June 29 statement.
"Our ponds are in great shape," said Geoff Oldfather, AEPCO's Cooperative Communications and Public Relations Manager.
The company "welcomes the EPA report and continues, as it has since the facilities in question were built, to welcome agency and public examination of its facilities, operations, and most of all, our exemplary safety record," he said in a statement issued June 29.
"There have been no known spills or unpermitted releases within 10 years since the ponds listed in the EPA report were built and went into service," Oldfather said.
These ponds "are inspected daily, weekly, and monthly by AEPCO personnel and yearly by the Arizona Department of Water Resources Dam Safety and Flood Mitigation Division," he said.
He points out "neither the EPA nor the ADWR have ever found any violations of safety or other standards and no safety issues have been uncovered in the last year during inspections by the ADWR."
So why the "high hazard" rating?
That rating would be in place "whether it's coal ash or water," Oldfather told the Range News.
"It has nothing to do with the safety of the facility," he said.
"The EPA ranking takes into account factors not directly related to the facilities themselves, such as residences that may be in the vicinity that could be affected should a breach or other event occur," Oldfather said.
In this case, there are two residences - one a third of a mile away and the other one mile away - that are within the computer-modeled inundation area, he said.
The EPA's own statement seems to echo reassurances made by AEPCO.
"A high hazard potential rating is not related to the stability of those impoundments, but to the potential for harm should the impoundment fail," the statement said.
"The presence of liquid coal ash impoundment near our homes, schools, and businesses could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
"By compiling a list of these facilities, EPA will be better able to identify and reduce potential risks by working with states and local emergency responders," she said.
Since the December 2008 failure of a coal ash pond at the TVA facility in Kingston, Tenn., the EPA has been gathering information on coal combustion residual ponds from electric utilities nationwide.
It also has been conducting on-site evaluations to determine the ponds' vulnerabilities.
"Working closely with other federal agencies and the states, EPA will review the information gathered from this investigation and will require appropriate action at any facility that is found to pose a risk," the EPA statement said.
"The results and analysis of this investigation will be compiled in a report and made available to the public and will help strengthen our ability to protect the American people, which is our foremost and urgent priority."
EPA spokeswoman LaTisha Petteway, in Washington, D.C., told the Range News last week the final report would not be completed until the end of the year.
"These inspections are done annually," Oldfather told the Range News. "The only difference now is that the current (Obama) administration wants it released to the public."
(Carol Broeder is a reporter at the the Arizona Range News in Willcox.)
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