Beyond Carbon: Coal Waste

Scientific American reports on toxic fly ash from coal-fired power plants. 'Clean coal' technologies remove pollutants from our atmosphere, but this may only shift the threat to our drinking water. Each year, the US produces more than 100 million tons of coal waste, laced with cadmium, arsenic, uranium, and other toxic elements. In December 2008, 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash spilled from a containment area in Kingston Tennessee. The cleanup cost nearly $1/gallon, but the area remains uninhabitable. Scientific American Video...