The standard practice for disposal of the Coal Combustion Byproducts (CCBs) that are produced during the generation of electricity at coal-fired steam electric generating stations is to place them in either wet or dry ‘stacks’. Liquid that leaches through the stacks can become impacted with metals, radionuclides, and other constituents that are harmful to groundwater and surface water quality. The common approach for management of such leachate has been to discharge it under a site’s NPDES permit, either before or after treatment. However, upcoming changes in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA’s) Steam Electric Power Effluent Guidelines [EPA 821-R-09-008] (Effluent Guidelines), and pending legislation in many states, may prohibit such discharges and will likely result in a need for additional treatment of CCB leachate and other coal-fired electric utility wastewaters to meet very low standards. Treatment of this CCB leachate and other utility wastewaters streams to these very low concentrations is presently not common practice.
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