Ash from Coal-Fueled Power Plants
Coal is a natural metamorphic rock originating as plant matter. Coal is mostly carbon but even the highest grades of coal have small amounts of other compounds.
Carbon, when burned, creates heat to make steam that drives electricity generators. This process leaves behind ash. Depending on the type of coal, ash accumulates at up to about 10 percent the volume of the coal used as fuel. Included in the ash are compounds collected by scrubbers and SCRs, emission control devices that maintain air quality. By keeping particles out of the air and in the ash, they are contained.
Although there are many classifications of ash, it is mostly made up of sand-like particles and lime. Trace amounts of metals which occur naturally in the coal, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead, accumulate but their concentrations are not comparable to levels in other substances required to be regulated as hazardous.
Ash accumulations are contained on site at the plant, usually in a pond formed by an earthen dam. More and more opportunities for ash reuse are also emerging. Currently, 30-35% of the coal combustion by-products from Southern Company coal plants are re-used in safe and beneficial ways such as in concrete and road building.
Southern Company's Inspection Program
Southern Company owns and operates 22 plants with active ash ponds. Ash ponds have successfully contained the byproducts of coal burned to produce electricity for decades. Every two weeks plant personnel inspect the pond and impoundments. Every two years dam safety engineers inspect the dike and its structural integrity. Southern Company will continue to comply with, or exceed, all state and federal regulatory requirements and seek better ways to ensure the safety of ash ponds.
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