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]
Press Releases
Black & Veatch to design Chicago’s McCook Reservoir tunnel connection for USACE
Kansas City, Mo. (Aug. 5, 2009) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has selected Black & Veatch as the design engineer for the McCook Reservoir Main Tunnel. The new tunnel will connect the future McCook Reservoir to Chicago’s Deep Tunnel system, which is aimed at improving water quality in area rivers and Lake Michigan and reducing flood risk for the city of Chicago and suburban communities. [Editor] Read on for the rest of the press release. Photo copyright Black and Veatch[/Editor] […]
Project Related
Nicholson Construction starts $1.7M grout curtain project in Arkansas
ROGERS, Ark. — Construction of a “grout curtain” through Beaver Dam Dike 3 began this week to correct the dike’s chronic seepage problem. The work will be performed by GeoPrac.net sponsor Nicholson Construction company under […]
Failures
TVA watchdog inspector testifies at spill trial
The forensic geotechnical engineer who investigated the Tennessee Valley Authority’s 2008 coal ash spill was called to testify recently at lawsuits brought by some 230 property owners claiming negligence on the part of TVA for […]
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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?