After Risk Analyses, EPA 'Supports' Coal Ash Reuse in Concrete, Wallboard

摘要

An EPA risk evaluation finds that concrete and wallboard made with coal combustion residuals (CCRs) such as coal ash pose no more harm to human health or the environment than the raw components the materials replace, leading the agency to conclude that it "supports" the reuse as it prepares to issue a final coal ash disposal rule by year's end. EPA Feb. 7 released its new "Methodology for Evaluating Encapsulated Beneficial Uses of Coal Combustion Residuals" and an accompanying document, "Coal Combustion Residual Beneficial Use Evaluation: Fly Ash Concrete and [flue gas desulfurization (FGD)] Gypsum Wallboard," which applies the new methodology to those practices.