A chemical spill near the West Virginia state capitol in Charleston has
the surrounding residents in a state of disarray. The chemical, used to
help cleanse coal, has leached its way into the local tributaries,
causing officials there to warn against any use of tap water.
But it is also causing some to ask serious questions about this chemical
and whether it works, all with implications for coal-fired electricity.
It’s a beneficial additive that makes coal generation more effective,
say some, with critics noting that the chemical spill is burning an
already tarred indust
“I’ve been involved with some serious spills and the amount of angst
involved with this one does not seem justified,” says Randall Harris,
former senior engineer from the U.S. Department of Energy and who is
based in West Virginia. “My concern is that people who don’t like coal
will use this as another excuse to say that coal is harmful to the
environment.”
Under any scenario, the chemical spill affecting an estimated 100,000
residential customers of West Virginia American Water, is another
problem for the citizens of Appalachia. The chemical, called 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, is potentially deadly if ingested at concentrated levels.
According to Harris, the specific chemical in question separates the
sand from the quality coal in a “preparation plant.” The sand, or the
ash, in the coal sinks to the bottom of a water-filled vat and it is
then set aside in ponds. The purified, or lighter cleaned coal
materials, float to the top. It is subsequently sent to power plants.
On Thursday, a holding tank leaked, with a total capacity of about
35,000 gallons. While the facility had a secondary container system,
authorities in West Virginia say that about 5,000 gallons escaped from
the concrete encasements and spilled into a smaller river that feeds
into the bigger Kanawha River. That blends with the Ohio River, which
flows into the Mississippi River. The leaked amount would probably fall
well below dangerous, or toxic levels, says Harris.
He adds that the chemical can be damaging if it exceeds 0.1 percent
of the water. In this case, “The dilution factors would be high and it
would dilute quickly. If the 5,000 gallons reported is correct, the leak
would have been less than 700 cubic feet into a river that is flowing
at greater than 150,000 cubic feet per minute.”
Authorities are not taking any chances. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency is distributing bottled water while the local water
company is telling area residents to avoid drinking, bathing or cleaning
with the water as it now stands. The company at issue, Freedom
Industries, released a statement and told reporters that said safety is
its top priority. It says that it is cooperating fully with
investigatory agencies, which include federal prosecutors.
Interestingly, this chemical appears to have flown under the radar.
Even the water company’s president, Jeff McIntyre, is quoted as saying
that his experts are attempting to ascertain how much of the chemical
was flushed into the local waterways and they are also trying to learn
more about this product.
How exactly does this coal cleansing process work and it is really
beneficial? To be clear, the chemical that spilled is not one that — in a
previous era — had qualified for lucrative tax credits, which allowed
many companies to save as much as $3 billion a year in taxes. Those
deals ended in 2007.
In some cases, companies tried to create new fuel sources from coal
but in others, they merely sprayed already marketable coal with pine
tars and diesel fuels to show that it had been chemically altered, and
collect the tax credits. Lots of utilities had been in the so-called
synfuel business that include Duquesne Light, DTE Energy, Dominion
Resources, PacifiCorp, PPL Corp, Scana Corp., Southern Company, Sempra
Energy, TECO and Vectren Corp.
To that end, worthy projects remain. Chemically converting solid coal
into a synthetic gas to generate electricity or to make chemical
products is one. Transforming coal waste from an ecological nightmare to
a low-cost way to produce electricity is another.
“Many of these processes that take coal and refine into a better
product are definitely legitimate,” says Bob Bellemare, chief operating
officer of New Mexico-based Mykrobel, a utility consulting firm. “The
coal being put into power plants has fewer impurities.”
The chemical spill in West Virginia will assuredly shine the
spotlight on U.S. coal production and whether the chemicals used to
purify the coal before it is burned have a valid purpose. With the tax
credits gone, many experts say that today’s processes are justified. But
with the broader emphasis on global air quality, others will continue
to question coal’s role in a modern economy.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2014/01/10/chemical-spill-in-west-virginia-may-further-burn-coals-image/
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