Coal combustion is the simplest form of energy generation practiced by all countries. Unfortunately it is also the largest contributor of greenhouse gasses. New research has revealed that coal combustion waste, in the form of toxic coal ash, may also be linked to the incidence of certain rare cancer clusters amongst people living near dumping grounds. The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, conducted an investigation around power plants in the state and found that water under some of these landfills has concentrations of cancer-causing arsenics far exceeding the federal limit. These environmental hazards have gone unchecked and the operators of these landfills have not been fined, probably because of a weak government or because of loopholes in the regulations governing them.
In August, the federal agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Atlanta- based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed its original finding of an unusually high rate of blood cancer Polycythemia Vera in three counties of eastern Pennsylvania’s coal mining region. The prevalence of cancer in the regions of Schuylkill, Luzerne and Carbon counties was four times the states rate. Coincidentally, this area also contains the nation’s highest concentration of impure coal burning power plants. These facilities burn coal so impure that even the mining industry discards them. And to make matters worse, the state supports the dumping of toxic ash in abandoned mines thus increasing the risk of groundwater contamination.
Ever since the Pennsylvania cancer cluster was confirmed, public officials have wizened up to the imminent threat these contaminants pose and have been pressing for further studies of the link between toxic ash dumping and cancer. Among the factors being considered for further research are groundwater contaminants in the local cluster area.
To read the complete article by Sue Sturgis on southerstudies.org click here.
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