About two-thirds of coal-ash dams in West Virginia might need repairs and a quarter of them are ranked in poor or unsatisfactory condition as to pose a hazard, according to a report by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), which launched the 10-month comprehensive review after the failure of a coal-ash impoundment in East Tennessee last year.
WVDEP inspectors found stability problems such as seepage and erosion. The findings prompted at least five enforcement actions at landfills where dry waste products from coal-fired plants were dumped.
WVDEP Secretary Randy Huffman said the agency is exploring options for more frequent inspections of the 20 coal-ash impoundments under its dam-safety jurisdiction. The report said eight of the 20 coal-ash dams were found in satisfactory condition, with no “existing potential” safety deficiencies. The 12 others were found unsatisfactory.
After a dam collapsed at a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plant in December 2008, The Charleston Gazette reported that most of the coal-ash dams in West Virginia had not been visited by a state dam inspector in at least five years.
