Minimizing landfill waste is a strategic objective for AEP. We recycle tons of materials each year, including light bulbs, glass, metal, paper, oil and electronics. If not properly handled, the special wastes that we track, such as hazardous wastes and PCBs, can have adverse effects on the environment. We seek opportunities to reuse materials, including coal combustion products, whenever possible.
In a unique arrangement of industrial recycling involving AEP’s Mitchell Plant, coal is mined, electricity is generated, emissions are cleaned, gypsum is created and wallboard is manufactured — all along a three-mile stretch of a West Virginia highway. CertainTeed Corp., a manufacturer of wallboard and building supplies, opened a manufacturing facility adjacent to our plant in 2008 to obtain the material it needs for its product — a high-quality synthetic gypsum — that is created as a byproduct at our Mitchell and Cardinal Plants. More than 650,000 tons per year of gypsum — a byproduct of the process to remove SO2 from flue gas — is now being recycled into wallboard instead of being placed in landfills.
The turbine failure at Cook Nuclear Plant last year produced 240 cubic yards of asbestos waste that was properly disposed of. Approximately 1,600 gallons of turbine lubricating oil also were spilled, but were contained and cleaned up. The turbine is now being repaired.
We report annually to the EPA under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Program regarding the transfers and releases of toxic chemicals that occur off-site.
We are making steady progress toward eliminating all PCB-containing electrical equipment, such as transformers and
capacitors, from our power plants. Under the EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities program, AEP voluntarily removed more than 100,000 pounds of PCB-containing mineral oil in 2008. Our Picway (Ohio), Amos (West Virginia) and Clinch River (Virginia) plants recently completed projects recognized by the EPA.
AEP had 2,150 large PCB capacitors in service at 57 locations in 2000, and only 160 of them remain. The volume and number of PCB and PCB-contaminated transformers has steadily declined and now constitutes a very small percentage of our oil-filled equipment.
In 2008, we had approximately 1,684 documented spills from oil-filled equipment. These spills are often caused by car accidents or lightning strikes. A small portion of these (about 5 percent) were significant enough to be reportable to regulatory agencies, and an even smaller number (about 2 percent) involved PCBs.
In the wake of a major release from an
unaffiliated coal ash disposal facility in Tennessee in December 2008, we reviewed our inspection and maintenance program for fly ash ponds and other impoundments. We also are leading an initiative through the Edison Electric Institute to identify best practices and develop an industry strategy for the long-term maintenance of these facilities.
AEP annually consumes an estimated
77 million tons of coal, generating significant quantities of coal combustion byproducts that need to be recycled or disposed of. Some of these products can be used for roofing materials, blasting grit, wallboard production or structural fill, among other things. As a member of the Coal Combustion Products Partnership, we promote the beneficial use of these byproducts, which helps to keep them out of landfills or ash ponds. In 2008, AEP produced 10.3 million tons of coal ash and found beneficial use for about 40 percent of it. Use of coal ash combustion byproducts resulted in approximately $14.3 million in avoided costs for landfills. AEP also is a member of the American Coal Ash Association, Midwest Coal Ash Association, Texas Coal Ash Utilization Group and the Western Region Ash Group.
We operate 40 earthen dam impoundments that are used to store cooling water, fly ash and bottom ash from coal-fired power plants. These include 11 large fly ash and bottom ash impoundments in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana; six large water storage impoundments in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana; and several smaller ash storage impoundments located throughout our service territory. Our policy requires us to inspect and maintain these surface impoundments according to guidelines provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and all applicable state regulations. In states where groundwater monitoring is not already required by permit, AEP plans to install and monitor wells, working with state agencies. AEP voluntarily installed groundwater monitoring wells around the Glen Lyn Plant bottom ash ponds in Virginia last year in accordance with a plan developed by the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group. The data from the wells will help assess groundwater quality near ash ponds and coal combustion landfills that are not already being monitored. Additional wells will be installed at 15 power plants. In addition, all surface water discharges from ash ponds are subject to wastewater permit limitations.
We realize this is an issue of great concern for many environmental groups and communities where these facilities are located. AEP’s largest facilities are inspected frequently by plant staff and annually by corporate engineering staff. In addition, some of the fly ash ponds are equipped with instruments that monitor conditions. The monitoring data are collected at least annually, and a report on the condition and inspection results is provided to the plant for any action needed. We are committed to ensuring the structural integrity of these surface impoundments.
We recently testified before Congress on a proposal to establish federal mechanisms to help ensure that coal ash dams continue to be managed safely. We agree that some level of federal oversight to ensure dam safety has merit. The U.S. EPA already has begun inventorying existing impoundments and assessing their structural integrity. Many states already have detailed permitting, design, inspection and maintenance requirements for these impoundments. It is imperative that a new federal program does not overlap or duplicate existing regulations and that the appropriate federal agency be given oversight to ensure an effective, coordinated approach. We do not support regulating coal ash as a hazardous waste.
Spent nuclear fuel is stored on-site at the Cook Nuclear Plant. AEP is developing a dry-cask
storage facility for spent fuel at Cook.
We are exploring options for expanding our nuclear power capacity, which would potentially include increasing the output of two units at our Cook Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Although stakeholders are increasingly receptive to nuclear power, they still have serious concerns about nuclear waste, which we share. Our plan is to employ on-site dry-cask spent nuclear fuel storage, starting in 2011, until a permanent facility becomes available. We currently ship class "A" low-level radioactive waste to appropriate disposal facilities but store class "B" and "C"
radioactive waste at an on-site facility.
