Earlier reports from AEP - Sporn facility

From announcement: Coal Ash Survey Results: http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/surveys/

Specifically - Philip Sporn facility
http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/surveys/survey-sporn.pdf

Close to a year after the December 2008 breach at the TVA Plant in Roane County, TN., the EPA is using wisdom in prevention of another such disaster.
[ A containment pond, holding waste from the Coal-fired plant was compromised and the environmental devastation and impact on human life is beyond words. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/dec/22/officials-dike-burst-floods-homes-near-tva-plant/
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/dec/23/link-roundup-tva-disaster-roane-county-getting-wid/ ]

After reading the survey I am quite concerned. This is no reflection on the power companies, this is on those who are supposed to be regulating facilities who pollute.

• Question I ~ kind of gets everyone out of regulatory issues by declaring the ponds not a hazard. (by the Div. of Water & Waste Mngmt)
• These were designed by a West Virginian P.E. in 1996. Since 1997, liners that are regulated on landfill cells have been upgraded, it isn't the same, but that is a long time ago in engineering.
• There are no real inspections, and it is interesting how they term problems as erosion and slippage. No spills. There shows to have been some type of upgrade in 2002...we have learned a lot about toxins and hazards since then.
• Last regulatory inspection was 3/09, and there is no report available.
• April 06, 2005 is the last inspection available.
• The "Bottom Ash Pond" {max hgt 42'} is able to contain 265 acres, and the "Fly Ash Pond" can hold 1,965 acres that is holding at a maximum height of 65 feet.
• The report states that all Fly Ash is taken to a dry landfill. From what several states have ruled, that is not the best disposal method for Fly Ash.

As the old saying goes; "...an ounce of prevention is worth tons [sp] of cure.."