DEP Takes Closer Look at Coal Ash Basins

In the wake of the disaster in Tennessee last month, DEP Spokesperson Teresa Candori says DEP Acting Secretary John Hanger has requested extra inspections of Pennsylvania power plant ponds and dams. All dams are to be tested by the end of the January, and inspectors will take the next several months to carefully examine ponds. These checkups come in addition to annual inspections.

Candori says the extra inspections are to give a peace of mind more than anything else. However, she says the tests are not to check the toxicity of the coal ash pond, but to be sure that the waste is properly being contained.

In the Tennessee accident, more than one billion gallons of coal ash mixed with water spilled across more than 300 acres.