{"id":5507,"date":"2010-01-01T09:16:31","date_gmt":"2010-01-01T15:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sustainablog.org\/?p=5507"},"modified":"2010-01-01T09:16:31","modified_gmt":"2010-01-01T15:16:31","slug":"coal-waste-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/coal-waste-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Toxic Coal Waste May End Up In Your Food"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There is a long history of the US pushing industrial waste onto agriculture and our water supplies (water fluoridation<\/a>, anyone?), and it continues today with the government’s hope to spread a chalky waste product from coal-fired power plants, FGD gypsum, on fields of crops.<\/p>\n FGD gypsum (flue gas desulfurization gypsum) is a synthetic form of the mineral gypsum, and it contains mercury, arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals. It is produced by scrubbers that remove sulfur dioxide from power plant emissions, and the 17.7 million tons of the stuff are piling up around US power plants.<\/p>\n The Washington Post<\/em> notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n The Environmental Protection Agency says those toxic metals occur in only tiny amounts that pose no threat to crops, surface water or people. But some environmentalists say too little is known about how the material affects crops, and ultimately human health, for the government to suggest that farmers use it. “This is a leap into the unknown,” said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility<\/a>. “This stuff has materials in it that we’re trying to prevent entering the environment from coal-fired power plants, and then to turn around and smear it across ag lands raises some real questions.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here’s the problem. Creating energy from fossil fuels, whether it be from coal, natural gas, or oil, is an extremely dirty process<\/a>. Not only are these processes polluting and contributing to climate change<\/a>, they are responsible for a huge amount of industrial waste products that are not easy to dispose of. It’s a double whammy for the environment and our health. (Triple<\/em> when you include the extraction of fossil fuels!)<\/p>\n The EPA and U.S. Department of Agriculture started pushing “beneficial uses”of FGD gypsum during the Bush administration, and now the Obama administration continues to promote usage of the waste in agriculture. Use of the material in farming has more than tripled, from 78,000 tons in 2002 to 279,000 tons spread on fields last year, according to the American Coal Ash Association<\/a>, a utility industry group. Not only that, half of the 17.7 million tons of FGD gypsum produced was used in the manufacturing of drywall, too.<\/p>\n Fossil fuels create toxic waste by-products, which are all too difficult to dispose of. Unfortunately, the government is all too willing to allow their usage in our food, water, and homes. FGD gypsum is just another waste that may end up on fields of crops that feed us and our families.<\/p>\n