Plant defends fly ash practices

Bokoshe fly ash draws scrutiny over coal ash disposal, EPA regulation, heavy metals, and public health. Residents cite asthma and exposure risks, while AES Shady Point cites dust controls, permits, and federal nonhazardous classifications.

An official with a LeFlore County coal-fired power plant maintained that the fly ash it generates isn't hazardous to the health of area residents.

Lundy Kiger, a spokesman with AES Shady Point, made his remarks at a news conference that was called to counter the concerns of residents of nearby Bokoshe.

About 110 miles southeast of Tulsa, the town is home to a pit that holds fly ash, or coal composition product. Some residents claim that fly ash can aggravate asthma and even trigger cancer, concerns echoed by environmental groups in other regions as well.

"I believe 100 percent that the fly ash is not harming anyone from the regulation out there and the way that it is handled and from the studies that have been done through the federal government through the EPA," Kiger said.

An EPA determination in May 2000 said regulation of fossil-fuel combustion waste under the Conservation and Recovery Act is not warranted because it was considered nonhazardous and nontoxic.

But the EPA is proposing national rules, amid scrutiny after the TVA ash spill drew national attention, to regulate the disposal and management of fly ash.

Built in 1991, the AES Shady Point plant, among Oklahoma coal plants facing cleanup directives, sells all its electricity to Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. under a contract that supplies power to about 230,000 homes and businesses.

Kiger said many of the roughly 90 Shady Point employees "drink the same water" and "breathe the same air," as those in the community. He called allegations that fly ash is harmful "false" and "unsupported."

At an EPA hearing in September in Dallas, where objections to a power plant were also discussed, Bokoshe elementary teacher Diane Reece said more than half of her 17 sixth-grade students have asthma. A two-time cancer survivor herself, she also said that a friend who walked on the road near the fly-ash pit died of lung cancer.

Harlan Hentges, an attorney for the town of Bokoshe, said state regulators have been dishonest about fly ash not leaving the site through the air and water runoff, despite coal ash polluting water reports elsewhere.

Coal composition product can contain concentrated amounts of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and selenium. It is used as a highway base, in insulation material and in cement manufacturing, among other products.

Kiger said Shady Point has done a number of things to mitigate the spread of "fugitive dust."

Fly ash is loaded onto trucks that are fully enclosed, and all trucks and trailers go through a high-pressure wash before entering county or state highways, he said. Security guards looking at closed-circuit cameras also check to ensure that trailer gates and hatches are properly secured, he said.

Saeed Zahrai, an engineer for Emera Corp. of Edmond, said that the Bokoshe fly-ash pit has been used for half of its 20-year lifespan, even as coal plants slated for construction prompt discussion statewide.

Jurisdiction over the pit now is split among the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the state Department of Mines, even as watchdog group claims about early access to federal reports continue to circulate.

"We have no complaint about how that's structured," said geologist Joe Foster, a consultant contractor with Enercon of Oklahoma City. "I would chime in with the philosophy that if the Legislature wants to change that and put it all under one agency, we would work with one agency."

Kiger pointed out that the Shady Point plant has been a good community neighbor. Its endeavors include funding an elementary school in Panama, baseball and softball fields in Poteau and patrol cars for the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office.

"We made a pledge when we built this facility to be an active part of this community," he said. "I believe from the wishes of the founders of the way we started this company that we have done that and have done the best job that we possibly can."

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