[OKC] Group says coal plant dust harms health

[Shauna Struby]

Group says coal plant dust harms health


 <http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/authors.aspx?a=SUSAN-HYLTON-> By SUSAN
HYLTON World Staff Writer
Published: 4/19/2009  2:23 AM
Last Modified: 4/19/2009  3:33 AM

Thoughts were aired, but that still didn't clear the air in Bokoshe,
population 450. 

Members of the Bokoshe Environmental group - or "B.E. Cause" - were in Tulsa
last week to address the state Air Quality Advisory Council. 

They told of their homes, their yards and their lungs being invaded by the
fugitive dust that disperses from the fly ash disposal site in the town.
They insist that they seem to have higher rates of cancer, respiratory and
heart ailments, and residents who rely on oxygen tanks. 

"The EPA is going to pass new rules regarding fly ash for the nation, but
that is no excuse for the (Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality) not
to protect us now," said Susan Holmes of Bokoshe. 

The town is near Panama, where the Shady Point power plant owned by the
energy- generation giant AES Corp. contracts with GCI Mining Co. for
disposal of thousands of tons of a coal combustion byproduct known as fly
ash, which contains heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury. 

The fly ash site, known as the Thumbs Up Ranch, is at a reclamation coal pit
about 10 miles west of the power plant. It's the job of the Oklahoma
Department of Mines to oversee the operation and inspect the site to ensure
compliance. 



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::: shauna lawyer struby

 

 

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