|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Spill of chemical used in prep plant shuts down highway |
Chemicals Found in Coal Slurry and Sludge
To process Appalachian coal for market, companies wash and prepare it using water and coagulants, flocculants and surfactants, which are usually made up of various blends of polymers. These chemical mixtures serve to make coal float, thus separating the coal from the waste (rock mined with the coal). After the washing, processing facilities pump waste-laden slurry into coal sludge impoundments. Some of the water used in the process may be immediately recycled; some-after more of the waste settles-may be pumped off the impoundments to use again.
|
|||
The manufactures give the polymer blends trade names like Comax 1000 or Enviroguard 2000 and call the chemical formulations "trade secrets." That means citizens have a hard time finding out exactly what chemicals the processing plants use. Some that we do know about have been shown to be harmful to aquatic life, choking fish (by causing particles to stick to their gills), aquatic insects and fresh water mussels. At least two groups of coal prep plant workers are suing coal-processing-chemical manufactures over their apparently exposure-related health problems.
Reagents used in processing coal include acrylamides, (some acrylamides are carcinogenic), lime (pH adjuster), natural and modified starches, caustic starch, denatured alcohol, sulfuric acid (pH adjuster), nitric acid (pH adjuster), aluminum sulfate (pH adjuster), iron oxide and anhydrous ammonia. These are not all necessarily toxic, and, as in the case of the chemicals used as pH adjusters, become neutralized once they are used.
Below is a list of chemicals found in slurry and sludge:
|
Aniline Acenaphthene Acenapthylene Anthracene Benzidine Benzo(a)anthracene Benzo(a)pyrene Benzo(b)fluoranthene Benzo(ghi)perylene Benzo(k)fluoroanthene Benzyl alcohol bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate bis(2-chloroethoxy)-methane bis(2-chloroethyl)ether bis(2-chloroisopropyl)ether Butyl benzyl phthalate Chrysene Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene |
Dibenzofuran Dibutyl phtalate Diethyl phthalate Dimethyl phthalate Dioctylphthalate Fluoranthene Fluorene Hexachlorobenzene Hexachloroethane Indeno(1,2,3-c,d)pyrene Isophorone N-Nitrosodi-n-propylamine N-Nitrosodiphenylamine Naphthalene Nitrobenzene Phenanthrene Pyrene |
Acrilamide Hexachloro-1,3-Butadiene Hexa-Cl-1,3-Cyclopentadiene 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene 1,2-Dichlorobenzene 1,3-Dichlorobenzene 1,4-Dichlorobenzene 2,4-Dinitrotoluene 2,6-Dinitrotoluene 2-Chloronaphtalene 2-Methylnapthalene |2-Nitroaniline 3-3'-Dichlorobenzidine 3-Nitroaniline 4-Bromophenyl phenyl ether 4-Chloroaniline 4-Chhlorophenyl phenyl ether 4-Nitroaniline |
Specific Elements and Compounds
Source: Kentucky Division of Water. DOW-DES Analytical Data File.
Electronic File: Martin Co.Coal.Co.Slurry Release Data.xls
General
Acrylamides
ATSDR
MSDSheets
|