When politicians speak of the promise of "Clean Coal", ask them how to capture coal slurry after it spills
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sun, 10/03/2010 - 14:53.
When politicians like Barack Obama, Ted Strickland, George Voinovich, Sherrod Brown, Marcia Fudge, Frank Jackson, Gary Norton and our councilpeople speak of the promise of "Clean Coal" and carbon capture and sequestration, ask the politicians how to safely capture coal slurry... especially after it has spilled... as that skill is needed in Ohio today. On October 1, 2010, Murray Energy (of Pepper Pike, Ohio) spilled 1,000s of gallons of toxic coal slurry into an Ohio stream, as reported by the Sierra Club in the video above. That is the same Murray Energy responsible for the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine, in 2007, which "was so extensive, federal officials found no other mining disaster in the last 50 years to compare to it."
Take Action to Prevent Another Coal Slurry Spill in Ohio!
Murray coal company’s pipeline carrying toxic coal slurry through southeast Ohio burst open on Friday, flooding a pristine creek and surrounding areas with thick, black sludge.
This is the seventh time since 1999 that coal slurry has poured into the creek, killing fish and putting the future of the already endangered eastern hellbender salamander at risk.
Earlier this year, Murray applied for permission to build another sludge impoundment, burying a whole stream and putting entire communities at risk of contaminated water and a catastrophic breach.
Murray Energy, Ohio's largest coal mining company, wants to divert a pristine, high-quality stream from its course in Belmont County and transform the dry streambed into an artificial storage lake for billions of gallons of dirty coal slurry. Pictured above is Murray's current slurry impoundment, which is located adjacent to the proposed site but will soon reach capacity. Murray's current slurry impoundment has released toxic slurry repeatedly over the past decade into nearby streams.
Slurry is a waste product formed when coal is "washed" with water and chemicals to remove rock and impurities. In January, the U.S. EPA declared its opposition to the project as currently proposed, saying it will have "substantial and unacceptable adverse impacts."