Students
protest Iowa State
Iowa State U., Ames ,
IA , Aug 24, 2009 -- Iowa State
Walking
by the Iowa State University Parks Library Monday afternoon, students were
greeted with tents and signs welcoming them back to campus. But on the lawn
across from the Hub, students were greeted by another message:
The
slogan was part of a demonstration by the student environmental group ActivUs. The demonstration, made up of several students, a
golden retriever and some painted signs, protested the ash disposal practices
of
ActivUs, formerly
known as Students for Iowa PIRG, wants to raise awareness about fly ash, a
residual product of coal combustion. Fly ash can contain radioactive elements
such as uranium and thorium, as well as arsenic, boron, mercury and lead. The
group took issue with the method of disposal used by the ISU power plant.
Currently,
the fly ash is sent to the Basic Materials quarry in
However,
the risk of fly ash contamination varies by location. The make-up of fly ash
can differ, and the environmental factors of an area play a large part in the
risk for contamination, according to the article.
Jeff
Witt, assistant director of utilities with facilities planning and management,
could not be reached for comment on Monday.
"The
boiler ash ... is used for beneficial uses in accordance with Chapter 108 of
the Iowa Administrative Code," Wanderscheid
said. "Chapter 108 was developed to establish rules for determining when a
solid by-product is a resource ... The purpose of the chapter is to encourage
utilization of these by-products as resources when possible."
Waterloo's
Basic Materials quarry is one of four ash disposal sites in Iowa that received
a beneficial use waiver from the department of natural resources, which means
that these sites are not subject to the environmental regulations that apply to
Iowa's 12 other disposal sites, according to the article. In addition, the
beneficial use waiver does not require sites to monitor the water supply to
determine whether it is being contaminated with elements from fly ash.
The
proposed benefit of "beneficial use" is low-cost ash disposal, which
is being taken advantage of by more than just
Disposal
methods aside, ISU's power plant attains efficiency
levels of 55 percent -- about 10 percent higher than a typical utility plant, Wanderscheid said. The plant reduces coal burn and ash
production by cogenerating, a process that simultaneously produces thermal
energy for heating and cooling as well as electric power. Coal burn is reduced
by 15,000 tons per year, and ash production is reduced by 2,600 tons per year.
Jordison expressed
concern that
"Our
number one commitment is students' public health and safety through
environmental justice," Jordison said.
The
EPA has said it will draft federal regulations pertaining to ash disposal by
the end of 2009.
"There
is some speculation that liners and groundwater monitoring will be
required," Wanderscheid said. "If that is
the case, Basic Materials and other similar facilities will need to modify
their facility to comply with the new requirements."
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