EPA: Cancer risk from coal ash higher than previously revealed. Could it be in your yard?

Retired EPA scientist Larry Jensen has known about the radioactive risks of coal ash for years. He did a study more than 15 years ago in a northern Indiana town essentially built on the waste.  

Jensen sent a report to his former EPA colleagues but never got a response.

Now, the federal agency is finally recognizing the dangers posed by radium in coal ash, the byproduct of burning coal for electricity. It says the cancer risk from exposure to the material widely used for construction fill may be as much as 35 times higher than previously known or revealed.

The new risk points to an even bigger problem: In most states — including Indiana — no one knows where coal ash has been dumped because there were no tracking requirements.  

The EPA does know hundreds of millions of tons of the hazardous waste are currently sitting in impoundments all across the U.S. Indiana has more than 80 of those coal ash pits, the most of any state.

But at least 180 million tons of the waste also have been used as structural fill since 1980, according to the American Coal Ash Association, an industry trade group. That amount, if placed in hopper cars, would fill a freight train long enough to circle the earth — and that's just from the last 44 years. How much more went into fill before then is not known, but use continues to increase, jumping 40% from 2020 to 2021, according to the ACAA.

The Town of Pines near the shore of Lake Michigan, the area Jensen studied, is among the exceptions where environmental officials and utilities are aware of the problem and can work to address it. Most other areas, however, are left with big question marks. 

People may be unknowingly exposed to dangerous levels of radiation from coal ash used in their yards, under their homes, beneath roads and even in public areas including parks, playgrounds and schools. Repeated exposure to excess levels of radiation can cause cancer. 

“It’s a big problem and needs thorough investigation and creative ideas,” said Jensen, a certified health physicist at the EPA for 25 years, who lives in northwest Indiana.  

EPA reveals new concerns

The new risk was revealed in a draft assessment published in November as part EPA's ongoing efforts to strengthen the federal coal ash rule established in 2015. 

Previously, heavy metals and contaminants such as arsenic, mercury and chromium have been the major points of concern in coal ash. But this new review also pointed to "direct exposure to gamma radiation." Even small amounts of the toxic material pose a risk of cancer 35 times higher than previously revealed by the EPA, the assessment concluded.

When coal ash constitutes just 8% of the soil mixture, the added risk is above 1 in 10,000 — meaning an additional one person in 10,000 people, at least, is at risk of developing cancer. 

The actual risk is likely greater, according to Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization. That's because coal ash is often used in much higher percentages within fill and often is not covered with much soil. It’s regularly used as fill because it’s cheaper than soil, said Lisa Evans, an Earthjustice attorney who specializes in coal ash: “So if you’re trying to save money, why would you mix it with more soil?”

The EPA rule revisions focus on safeguards for fill used on utility properties. One example is at NIPSCO’s Michigan City facility, where a mixture of coal ash and sand was used to reclaim areas along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

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Despite the newly identified risk, the EPA is not proposing more rules for coal ash used outside utility sites. Evans said she is thankful the agency is "cracking down" on coal ash left onsite, but noted the toxic material poses similar risks regardless of where it’s used. 

"Nothing prevents power plants from moving radioactive waste from their own backyards into the backyards and neighborhoods where American families live,” she said.

Where is the coal ash? 

The Town of Pines is an example. Many residents saw contamination in their drinking water wells from coal ash in an unlined landfill in the town more than 20 years ago. As a result, they were provided with bottled water for some time before being hooked up to municipal water. 

But the water was not the only concern. For years, residents also raised concerns about contamination in the soil. It wasn't until 2014, a few years after Jensen sent his report to the EPA, that federal officials began testing the soil in Pines, said Cathi Murray, a long time resident. They found coal ash in people’s yards, under roads and even beneath the playground outside the city hall building.

In many areas, NIPSCO has dug up the coal ash to a depth of a few feet and covered it with soil. But more remains, including beneath an unpaved road that runs along the back of Murray’s property.Now, she worries about letting her grandchildren play in the woods behind her house.

Pines is a small town, only about 600 residents ― too small to do a health study they were told by the government. But Murray said there is someone with cancer on nearly every block.

"We can’t say for sure what caused it," said Murray, who herself has lost more than 60% of her thyroid. "But it makes you wonder."

In one North Carolina community, coal ash also was used extensively as fill, including next to the public high school. Structural fill issues have also released coal ash into tributaries of Lake Norman, a popular recreation spot and the drinking water source for the town of Mooresville.

Dozens of teenagers and other residents in the town of have been diagnosed with cancer. One mom whose daughter was diagnosed raised more than $100,000 to fund a health study conducted by Duke University. They found that thyroid cancer rates in the town were as much as three times higher than expected. The connection to coal ash is suspected, but not confirmed.

In Mooresville, North Carolina, where coal ash also was used extensively as fill, dozens of teenagers and other residents have been diagnosed with cancer. One mother raised more than $100,000 to fund a health study by Duke University that found thyroid cancer rates in the town were as much as three times higher than expected. The connection to coal ash is suspected, but not confirmed.

Experts worry there are numerous other communities like Pines and Mooresville, N.C., where residents may be exposed to increased cancer risk — yet not even be aware.

Where exactly, though, remains unknown because there are few public records, if any, on where coal ash was used outside power plants. Indiana, for example, did not require any tracking. Indra Frank with the Hoosier Environmental Council said utilities might be the only entities that have records.

"We'd have to ask them to release that in the public's best interest," said Frank, the director of environmental health and water policy with HEC. "But it would be a tough ask" that could open them up to expensive clean-up requirements, she added.

Indiana’s major utilities, when asked by IndyStar, said they had no such records. 

 How to use coal ash

The discussion about coal ash is timely because utilities, regulators and policymakers are trying to figure out what to do with the massive pits of ash left behind as coal plants across the country continue to close their doors. 

Many utilities — including those in Indiana — want to leave the ash sitting in place. The other push is for the ash to be removed from the pits and used in some way, otherwise called “beneficial use.”

Keeping the ash where it is raises serious concerns about contamination to the surrounding groundwater. According to the EPA, roughly 150 coal plant facilities have detected pollution from their ash pits in the nearby groundwater, marking "widespread noncompliance" with the federal coal ash rule. The agency expects that number to increase. Groundwater contamination has been found at all 16 Indiana power facilities, according to monitoring data. 

When it comes to the second option of excavating the ash, it still has to go somewhere. In addition to fill, coal ash also is often used in the production of gypsum wallboard and concrete. It even has been spread on agricultural fields as fertilizer. Experts say some beneficial uses are better than others. It depends on whether the ash is "bound" within the product or in loose form.

John Ward, spokesman for the American Coal Ash Association, said beneficial use of coal ash — including as structural fill — can be an important tool for tackling the ash pit problem. He argues that regular soil naturally contains some heavy metals or other potentially harmful materials, and industry standards in place today help ensure structural fill is not hazardous.

“From our perspective, EPA didn’t draw a line between their new risk assessment and structural fill activities and say it wasn’t worth doing,” Ward said of what he believes are flaws in the EPA assessment. “It was environmental activists that drew that line.” 

Those advocates would like to see the practice scrapped all together. More than 150 public interest groups sent a letter to the EPA urging it to ban coal ash in fill projects, especially in residential areas. They also asked the agency to investigate areas where ash fill has been used near homes and require clean-up in those places. 

Evans said that could take time at the federal level, but hopes public pressure and actions at the state level can continue to move the needle. A Democrat legislator proposed a bill in Indiana this year that would have prohibited the use of coal ash as fill across the state, but it was not heard in the Republican-controlled Statehouse.

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.