Locations of coal ash sites kept secret

June 13, 2009|Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration has decided to keep secret the locations of nearly four dozen coal ash storage sites that pose a threat to people living nearby.

The Environmental Protection Agency classified the 44 sites as potential hazards to communities while investigating storage of coal ash waste after a spill at a Tennessee power plant in December. The classification means the waste sites could cause death and significant property damage if an event such as a storm, a terrorist attack, or a structural failure caused them to spill.

The sites have existed for years with little or no federal regulation. The Army Corps of Engineers in a letter dated June 4 told the EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the public should not be alerted to the whereabouts of the sites because it would compromise national security.

"Uncontrolled or unrestricted release (of the information) may pose a security risk to projects or communities by increasing its attractiveness as a potential target," Steven L. Stockton, the Army Corps' director of civil works, wrote in a letter obtained by the Associated Press. Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California questioned why coal ash storage ponds are not treated like other hazardous waste sites.