Tarong Northern Land Ash Emplacement - Stage 1 Project
Stage 1 of the new ash storage facility is located approximately 3.5 km north of the existing Tarong ash dam, will cover an area of 2 km2, have a storage capacity of 45 million m3 and a predicted storage life of 20 years at the anticipated rate of ash production.
The majority of the ash from the power stations will be pumped to the proposed facility as a dense phase slurry via a dedicated pipeline. Furnace ash from the Tarong North Power Station will be transported to the proposed facility by truck. Ash will be stacked as a dense phase material to create an above ground stable landform. The landform will be progressively developed over-time from the western side of the site until such time as it reaches a flat top at a level approximately 60 m in height.
These pictures show the Ash Dam and a coal mine in detail. Notice the coal mine is the same colour as the toxic fly ash (silica) dam. Guess they have to fill the hole in with something.
Who is Mrs. Bochmann? I thought this woman was Councillor Roslyn GREGOR! Well I suppose it is a sob story about Tarong and the Toxic waste dump going in the Nanango Shire that Councillor Gregor would have had to vote on for approval. (Is that a conflict of interest???). Cutting was the full front page spread in Queensland Country Life - Thursday December 1, 2005. Title "Tarong land grab"
More about the Toxic Waste Dump going in near Berlins Road in Nanango Shire. This cutting is from Queensland Country Life, December 8, 2005.
Continuing Brad Coopers story regarding the toxic waste dump. This cutting is from Queensland Country Life Sept. 14th 2006, page 11.
The following Investigative Protocol was sent to this resident. If we received a letter such as this the bottom of our stomach would fall out.
The following Test Reports by SIGMA clearly show an imbalance in the samples taken:
The following is an extract from the web site http://www.armyforacleanenvironment.org:80/
This lawsuit represents a first of its kind: seeking injunctive relief against the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) as an administrator and trustee for the environment, who failed its fundamental duties, and as a responsible party since its remediation actually increased contamination in the neighbourhood and violated the law it is to enforce.
Nearly two years after a massive fly ash landslide buried their neighbourhood in power plant wastes, residents of Rostosky Ridge Road are filing a lawsuit seeking a
Court-ordered clean up of their neighbourhood. The affected families have been forced to live with fly ash on their properties, in their homes and on their minds, constantly.
The situation is considered so serious that attorneys representing the residents will seek preliminary injunctive relief to secure the immediate clean up in advance of the litigation.
“We never escape the fly ash,” said Barbara Diess. “It’s everywhere: on our property, in our cars and in our homes. I wash my walls and the water in the bucket is black. We are scared to death and no one seems to care.”
The residents’ fear is warranted according to the experts they consulted. Independent testing of the fly ash revealed very high levels of arsenic – well above regulatory levels – exposing residents to cancer risks. For example, post clean up testing done by an independent environmental firm revealed soils in the neighbourhood remain as high as seven (7) times the acceptable concentration limit in some areas.
And yet, the PA DEP has refused to require a full and safe clean up.
“Our lives were changed when the fly ash came down on us. We can’t do ordinary things we used to do like have outdoor barbeques. We worry everyday about what we’re breathing,” said resident Rhonda Jarvis. “No one should have to live like this.”
There are many issues that we believe should be looked into regarding the matters of sodium dioxide, silica and fly ash. All of which were found on this persons property. Monitoring does not seem to be done and regulations put in place to protect all people. Not just the ones in the ivory towers.
Silica and your health
March 2002
QueenslandSilica (silicon dioxide) is a naturally occurring mineral composed of silicon and oxygen. Silicane silicate compounds make up 90% of the earth's crust. Crystalline or free silica is the form which is most likely to produce harmful effects. The three most common types of crystalline silica are quartz, tridymite and cristobalite. However, in most rocks crystalline silica makes up only a fraction of the total silica containing materials.
Other forms of silica are silica combined with other elements (silicates) and amorphous silica. In general, these forms of silica are much less likely to cause disease, apart from the fibrous silicates such as asbestos. A single short-term exposure to dust containing a high concentration of silica can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Essentially all dusts can have this effect. However, such exposure would not cause permanent injury. Repeated and prolonged exposure over many years to relatively high concentrations of crystalline silica in the air is known to cause a lung disease called silicosis. Such exposure may occur for instance when rocks containing crystalline silicate ground up during mining or quarrying operations.
The disease may also occur following short-term exposure to extremely high concentrations. Such exposures are extremely unlikely to occur today given modern work practices. Silicosis occurs when crystalline silica is deposited in the air sacs of the lungs where gas exchange occurs. The deposited silica causes inflammation, which results in scarring and eventually reduced lung capacity. The risk and the severity of damage is related to the size and shape of the particles, the concentration of particles and the length of time the person is exposed. Silicosis can only be caused by exposure to crystalline silica particles which are in the respirable size range. That is, the particles need to have diameters less than approximately 7 micrometers (1 micrometer is 1 millionth of a meter).
Silicosis can vary in severity from mild to severe, Typically, the symptoms do not develop until after twenty or more years of constant exposure. The early symptoms are shortness of breath, a dry cough and a general feeling of unwellness. As the disease progresses the symptoms may become more severe. Silicosis may be complicated by heart failure because the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the scarred lung tissue. Another common complication is increased susceptibility to lung infections, particularly tuberculosis. There is no effective treatment for silicosis. Treatment is aimed at relieving symptoms, managing complications and preventing infections. Amorphous silica is not regarded as a cancer causing agent. However, the potential for crystalline silica in the form of quartz or cristobalite to cause lung cancer is well documented.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considers that long-term occupational exposure to quartz and cristobalite can be associated with lung cancer. However, there is no evidence to indicate that exposure at levels below the national exposure standards set for the different forms of crystalline silica (see below) will cause cancer or silicosis, General community (nonoccupational) exposure to crystalline silica is typically well below the national exposure standards and consequently, such exposures are unlikely to present significant risks to public health.
Exposure to potentially harmful levels of silica is typically a hazard for some occupations including those associated with mining, quarrying, foundries, sandblasting, the construction of roads and tunnels, and manufacturing of stone, clay and glass products. The exposure of the general community to respirable crystalline silica is typically very low. National exposure standards have been set at levels which should not affect the health of nearly all workers who are working an eight hour day for five days a week for a working lifetime. The Australian standards are as follows:
. Quartz 0.2 mg/m3
. Cristobalite 0.'1 mg/m'
. Tridymite 0.1mg/m'
The exposure standards only refer to particles of crystalline silica in the respirable size range i.e. particles with diameters less than approximately 7 micrometers. Exposure to harmful levels of crystalline silica dust is not expected to occur outside the workplace. Within the workplace, exposure can be reduced by changes in work practices, engineering controls to achieve dust containment and suppression, and the use of personal protection equipment. National Exposure Standards for Atmospheric Contaminants in the Occupational Environment 1995: Crystalline Silica, in Commonwealth of Australia Gazette; No C6:4 June, 1996.
For more information on Fly Ash & Coal Combustion Click here
The
David Suzuki Foundation - Climate Change
