60 Minutes last night had the best report on Coal ash that I've seen since the Tennessee spill:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5362297n

Some of the posted comments after are interesting. One guy:

If coal ash is so dangerous, are you taking off your diamond rings? They are made of coal.

and:

I will gladly eat 1 cup of coal ash , for every tea spoon of nuclear waste Lesley Stahl will put in her hand. The next time you see or use concrete think about all those deadly metals. If you want some fine tomatoes next year find you 5 gallons of deadly coal ash to mix with your soil.

Another poster:

Did I miss something? Was there one scientific study that showed this was dangerous to humans?

I was under the impression that increased mercury into air, water, and soil is well known to be dangerous to humans.

Sourcewatch on coal ash:

Mercury and fly ash

Coal fly ash is a fine gray powder residue produced by coal-fired power plants and used to make cement. Modern pollution controls in coal plants capture the fly ash before it becomes airborne. As a result, heavy metals such as mercury are concentrated in what the EPA considers "recycled air pollution control residue." In 2006, coal plants in the United States produced almost 72 million tons of fly ash, up 50 percent since 1993.

The use of fly ash in cement kilns in the U.S. has grown from about 1 million tons in 2001 to more than 4 million tons in 2006. Mercury and other metals in fly ash are transformed into vapor and released out of the kiln's smokestack. A 2007 EPA study found that mercury content in ash had increased by up to 850 percent as power plants met stricter federal rules for mercury emissions. The EPA estimates that cement plants produce about 23,000 pounds of mercury per year. In New York's Hudson Valley, the Lafarge cement plant releases between 380 and 400 pounds of toxic mercury per year, equivalent to the four largest coal plants in the state.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The Chinese were using far more contiminated fly ash in drywall which caused a lot of problems.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I suddenly remember hearing about contaminated Chinese drywall. I'll have to check into that. I have no idea, really, about the drywall I buy.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

A Lowes building supply store was being built here in town about 10 years ago. The property was a giant ravine. Good news for them, there was a 20 year old coal power plant 4 miles away with a huge coal ash pile. Supposedly, the coal ash is non-compressible, like sand. A few thousand dump truck loads later, no more ravine, no more ash pile. I haven't seen any settling issues. I guess it would be a good question to find out what the ground water is like now.

It's a tough one. I could well be using coal power at some point along the way this minute. Almost certainly am, that is. But it only makes sense that burning coal concentrates small trace elements in a big way. Just like if you take a big stack of pallets and burn them for heat, you end up with a small pile of nails.

We're beating the hell out of ground water, more and more IMHO.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

We need electricity, unless everyone wants to go back to candles.

The juice I'm using now probably comes from the garbage incinerator in Bridgeport. Why fill landfills with your trash when you can burn it and make power? It burns so hot that its actualy pretty clean.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

But do we actually need anywhere near as much as we use now? Over time, the full costs of electricity generation may begin to look too high when one considers the questionable uses we put it to.

I'm not sure but I thought that plastic burning always put out toxic gases no matter how hot the fire. Anybody know?

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

CMAC2012,

I believe you're right...The Gasses emitted by burning plastics are what kill you in: House Fires,Airplane Fires,Car Fires,Boat Fires.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

A lot of stuff is filtered out/seperated out before burning.


Garbage can be a very profitable business if done right.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I was at the Bristol dump a few weeks ago and I think they have a furnace there but I'm not entirely sure if they make electricity or not. I've often wondered why more trash isn't burned to create electricity....once you get that flame rolling all you have to do is keep feeding it air and more trash.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

$2,000 a week plus all you can eat.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Yes. And over time, no doubt more.

I'm on nuclear by the way

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Just partially. The SRP still provides you with 60% of your power and 20% is bought from the Springerville plant. Most of Palo Verde's output is sent to California and a good percentage is transmitted to the mining conglomerates.

I think nuclear is a good thing by the way. The waste is a bad thing but look at the title of this thread.

You have no idea whether or not we would be better off with more or less energy than we currently use. Too much access to easy energy has a lazi-ness inducing effect. Next time you're in public, you'll be able to see manifestation of this. Americans are getting fatter, lazier, and weaker. All of this *****ing about those who give Latinos jobs? If Americans weren't so intent on making 6 figures and up in white collar work, we might actually have young healthy Americans enough to do the hard work in our country. But we don't. And thus we gradually cede majority status to someone else, the enablers of it whining all the way.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

How is nuclear waste much better than coal ash? Sheer volume is less but that doesn't cover it.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K