The Corps is proposing to use the fly ash as part of a lime slurry mixture for some kind of grouting to stabilize the levees according to the article. Environmentalists are concerned about the potential impacts of residual toxins in the fly ash. However, they are drawing comparisons to the TVA coal ash dam failure. From my perspective, this is an unfair comparison since this fly ash would be mixed with lime and in theory any toxins would be bound up in the grout matrix. But it never hurts to be cautious regarding potential contaminants that close to such an important waterway. [Source: bnd.com via ASCE SmartBrief]
Miscellaneous
Dam Safety News Highlights
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials publishes monthly news items related to levee and dam safety and associated projects. Their April news items were just published this week and there are several interesting items. Read on for more info.
Project Related
Stantec-Jacobs Team Wins $1.9B Corps Levee and Floodwall Project to Protect Texas Coast
The Galveston Coastal Services Joint Venture was recently awarded the design of a 26.7-mile long segment of levee and floodwall system along the Texas coast near Galveston. The overall project is slated to last 8 […]
Geologic Hazards
National Geographic Article on New Orleans Levees
National Geographic has published an article on the New Orleans levee system entitled "New Orleans Levees, Are They Safe?". The article indicates, as has been reported from other sources, that the levees are now back […]
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I agree that the toxins will be chemically bound into the grout. There may be some leachate but nothing that compares to TVA coal ash dam failure, a dam that was built to hold back a toxic sludge. It was the sludge that caused the contamination not the dam. It would be like comparing a drip of oil from my truck to the Horizon debacle in the Gulf of Mexico. I guess the ACOE could just do nothing, will the environmentalists be there when the levees fail?