The Dirty Secret of Combustion Waste from America’s Power Plants

The report details the environmental and health risks associated with the disposal of over 100 million tons of annual coal and oil combustion waste in the United States. It highlights that 76 million tons are typically disposed of in unlined, unmonitored onsite lagoons and landfills, leading to groundwater contamination and ecological damage. The authors argue that current state-level regulations are inconsistent and insufficient, and that the EPA's preliminary determination to maintain a regulatory exemption for these wastes ignores significant risks to low-income communities and people of color. The document calls for federal oversight under RCRA to mandate modern environmental controls like liners and groundwater monitoring.

• Approximately 100 million tons of coal and oil combustion wastes are produced annually at nearly 600 power plants, with 76 million tons primarily disposed of in unlined and unmonitored wastewater lagoons, landfills, and mines.
• Combustion wastes contain toxic contaminants including arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium. EPA analysis indicates that these pollutants can migrate into groundwater, with excess cancer risks for children drinking contaminated water found to be as high as one-in-one hundred, which is 10,000 times higher than the EPA's regulatory goal of less than one-in-one million.
• The disposal of these wastes has caused documented ecological damage, including fish consumption advisories in Texas and North Carolina, and developmental and behavioral abnormalities in nearly 25 species of amphibians and reptiles in South Carolina wetlands.
• Low-income communities and people of color are disproportionately affected by the health risks of these wastes. The poverty rate for people living within one mile of waste facilities is twice the national average, and the non-white population in these areas is 30 percent higher than the national average.
• Current state-level oversight is insufficient and inconsistent. For example, in Texas, the state could not provide information because permits are not required for onsite management or disposal on company land within 50 miles of the facility, while in Iowa, the state legislature rescinded requirements for liners and leachate collection at landfills in 1998.
• The authors argue that air emission controls increase the volume and toxicity of solid waste because pollutants are captured rather than eliminated. They specifically note that mercury can volatilize from landfills and impoundments, potentially re-entering the atmosphere if not managed as a solid waste stream.

APA

Keating, M., Baum, E., & Round, M. (2000). The Dirty Secret of Combustion Waste from America’s Power Plants. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093506/Laid_to_Waste.pdf

Chicago

Keating, Martha, Ellen Baum, and Margaret Round. The Dirty Secret of Combustion Waste from America’s Power Plants. Clean Air Task Force, 2000. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093506/Laid_to_Waste.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Keating |first1=Martha |last2=Baum |first2=Ellen |last3=Round |first3=Margaret |title=The Dirty Secret of Combustion Waste from America’s Power Plants |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=March 2000 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093506/Laid_to_Waste.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{keating2000dirty, author = {Keating, Martha and Baum, Ellen and Round, Margaret}, title = {{The Dirty Secret of Combustion Waste from America’s Power Plants}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2000}, month = mar, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093506/Laid_to_Waste.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }