Tulsa World: Group says coal plant dust harms health

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Group says coal plant dust harms health

Susan Holmes of Bokoshe speaks Wednesday at a meeting of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. She and other Bokoshe residents attribute ailments to dust from a nearby fly ash disposal site. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World

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.

'Not causing problems'

Ken Jackson of Making Money Having Fun LLC manages the disposal site.

Jackson said by phone Friday that his company has made some changes to reduce dust at the site, but not because it was required to do so.

Residents maintain that they notice no difference.

Jackson said officials of both the DEQ and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission visited the site recently and found no deficiencies with his permit.

Jackson said he also has met with area residents on several occasions to discuss their concerns.

In addition to AES's contract with GCI for three trucks, Jackson said, an AES subsidiary, Mountain Mineral, has four or five trucks delivering to the site.

An AES spokesman, Lundy Kiger, told the air quality council that AES has nothing to do with how the disposal site is managed.

Jackson disagrees that the fly ash is directly responsible for making people sick.

"It is not causing health problems," he said. "I live on this site."

Holmes, however, said 14 families live near the disposal site, and 12 of them have cancer victims. "You can't tell me there's not something wrong with that," she said.

Holmes lost a sister to lung cancer.

"I do not know whether breathing fugitive dust from fly ash caused her cancer," Holmes said. "I do know having to breathe anything full of carcinogens, mutagens and toxins on a daily basis cannot be good for anyone."

Calves die

Herman Tolbert's pasture adjoins the fly ash disposal site. He said he has had many problems with his cattle beyond losing an occasional calf. As many as five of 25 cows suffered cervical prolapse in one year, he said.

"In 2007, 10 baby calves died. They were born fully developed; they just couldn't get their breath," he said.

Although he can't be certain that fly ash was the culprit, Tolbert said, he would like to see the water and air in the area tested. "I know that's supposedly being done by the people doing the dumping, but I'm not really satisfied with that," he said.

Tolbert didn't learn until recently of all the toxic materials in fly ash, he said. He found that it contains mercury, which isn't regulated by the federal government.

"To me that's unbelievable," he said.

Another rancher, Tim Tanksley, said the fly ash plumes look like masses of smoke coming off a fire that rise and carry off into the windstream across property lines.

"Clean coal? I say oxymoron," Tanksley said.

"I've heard that corporations consider Bokoshe and other small communities throwaway communities.

"Families like ours built Oklahoma. If you kill the roots, the tops are going to die."

Susan Hylton 581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer

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If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

	Report Comment droopy, wagoner (4/19/2009 7:45:20 AM) Hey, maybe Captain Chicken Crap can start a new career! A new lawsuit in the offing?
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (4/19/2009 10:20:33 AM) Good idea, droop. This guy Jackson sounds just like the poultry companies. "We know that the water is foul and people are getting sick, but shucks - we're SURE it isn't our fault. And even if it is, betcha can't prove it, nya nya nya." Clean coal is a contradiction in term.
	Report Comment musicman101, (4/19/2009 10:35:54 PM) sounds like another "tar creek". don't worry, in 20 years everyone there will have new lower priced homes to move into

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