EPA PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ENDS
AS ACAA SUBMITS VOLUMINOUS COMMENTS

Following months of work by American Coal Ash Association volunteers, ACAA submitted voluminous comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on November 19, 2010, as the agency’s public comment period for proposed coal ash disposal regulations closed.

ACAA’s submission, which was hand delivered to EPA, was comprised of an approximately 200-page comment letter backed up by two compact disks containing supporting documentation. Additionally, ACAA submitted 10,629 pages of information on coal ash beneficial use, including case studies and research documents. ACAA members can view a copy of the submittal in the “Members Only” section of the ACAA web site under the “2010 EPA Rulemaking Documents” tab.

ACAA’s comments were the product of an unprecedented member volunteer effort that included a pair of two-day meetings in Baltimore and Denver, extensive participation in eight EPA public hearings at locations around the country, and dozens of conference calls and supplemental task team meetings by subgroups that were formed to develop responses to various aspects of the proposed regulations. It is estimated that more than 14,000 volunteer hours went into creation of the ACAA comment letter.

ACAA Vice Chair Lisa Cooper of PMI Ash Technologies coordinated the final review and compilation of ACAA’s comments.  The document was assembled and formatted under the direction of Karen Crawford, attorney with the firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, and her staff.  Other reviewers and contributors included ACAA Chair Mark Bryant, Dave Goss and John Ward.

“The expansive nature of EPA’s proposed regulations presented an enormous challenge for the coal ash beneficial use industry,” said Tom Adams, ACAA Executive Director. “Although EPA officials stated that their intent was to implement new coal ash disposal regulations and continue to support beneficial use, the actual language of their nearly 600-page proposed regulation posed enormous complications and barriers to beneficial use.

“I am extremely proud of the way ACAA members rose to the occasion in responding to EPA to defend beneficial use. Our members devoted untold time and expense to personally reviewing the EPA proposals and formulating a thoughtful and comprehensive response. Everyone who participated in the process should be congratulated.”

Volunteer task team leaders for the ACAA comment development process included Keith Bargaheiser, Headwaters Resources; Dr. Tarunjit Butalia, The Ohio State University; Fred Gustin, Kansas City Power & Light; Paul Koziar, Paul Koziar Consulting; Lamar Larrimore, Southern Company; Jeff McNelly, ARIPPA; Dana Meier, AES; Mike Mings, Lafarge; Rob Oliva, PMI Ash Technologies; Charles Price, Charah; and Bob Spoerri, Beneficial Reuse Management. Additionally, significant contributions were made by Dr. Lisa Bradley, AECOM; Kyle Crake, PMI; Danny Gray, Charah; Shrief Kabis, Sustainable Innovations; Andy Keir, AECOM; and Dr. Rafic Minkara, Headwaters Resources.

Volunteer coordinators for public hearings included Pat Borders, Randy Dunlap and Tom Cerullo, Separation Technologies; Dave Goss, DC Goss; Bill Gehrmann, Headwaters Resources; Jimmy Knowles, SEFA; Barbara Coppola, Progress Energy; Bob Spoerri, Beneficial Reuse Management; Gary Haney, FirstEnergy; Danny Gray, Charah; and Harry Roof, ACAA.

THOUSANDS JOIN ACAA
IN OPPOSING SUBTITLE C DESIGNATION

Thousands of allied organizations, individual companies, and individual people joined ACAA in opposing any form of “hazardous waste” designation for coal ash in EPA’s proposed disposal regulations.

In addition to supporting the development of ACAA’s comprehensive comments to EPA, most ACAA members also submitted their own comments and encouraged hundreds of vendors, customers, and state government officials to do so as well.

Individual citizens were encouraged to oppose any “hazardous waste” designation by submitting comments to EPA through a variety of web-based grassroots tools. The total numbers of comments submitted to EPA through those tools includes:

• More than 11,000 from the clean coal power coalition. (www.cleancoalusa.org)
• 10,780 from a campaign mounted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
• 8,407 from Regulate Coal Ash Right, an effort sponsored by the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group.
• 3,523 from Citizens for Recycling First.
• 407 from the National Mining Association.

Additionally, some labor unions sponsored efforts to generate grassroots comments to EPA opposing Subtitle C, but totals from those efforts are not available.

WORLD OF COAL ASH CALL FOR PAPERS DEADLINE IS NOW!

December 1, 2010, is the deadline for submitting abstracts for both oral and poster presentations at the 2011 World of Coal Ash in Denver, Colorado. Abstracts can be submitted by following the instructions on the World of Coal Ash web site here.

The biennial World of Coal Ash will be held May 9-12, 2011. (A typographical error in the last issue of The Phoenix listed an incorrect date.) This major event attracted 537 American and international attendees when it was last held in 2009.

Exhibit Booth space can now be purchased by contacting ACAA at 720-870-7897 or info@acaa-usa.org. (Exhibitors will receive one complimentary and two reduced rate full conference registrations as part of their exhibit fees.)

Discounted early bird registration will be available through April 1, 2011. More detailed information about the conference can be found at www.worldofcoalash.org.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN
FOR ACAA WINTER MEETING IN LAS VEGAS

Registration and hotel reservations for the ACAA Winter Meeting in Las Vegas are now open. The meeting will be held at the MGM Grand Hotel February 1 and 2, 2011.

Hotel reservations can be made by contacting the hotel directly at 1-800-929-1111. Mention group name American Coal Ash Association and "AMERI0111" when reserving to obtain a discounted room rate of $109.

Registration for the meeting is open on the ACAA web site here. All meeting attendees are encouraged to pre-register to assist in planning for meeting rooms and refreshments.

To assist in defraying the costs of ACAA’s regular meetings, a modest registration fee has been implemented. Meeting registration for ACAA members will be $50 per person. Spouse or partner attendance at the reception and lunch are complimentary. Non-member guests or visitors will be assessed a $250 registration fee. That fee will apply to ACAA membership dues if the visitor decides to join within three months or before the next regular ACAA meeting, whichever occurs first.

The ACAA web site is not yet able to accept registration fees over the Internet. Attendees in Las Vegas are encouraged to pre-register on the web site, but plan to pay the registration fee at the meeting using either a check or credit card.

REVISED 2009 CCP PRODUCTION AND USE DATA AVAILABLE

An updated version of ACAA’s 2009 Coal Combustion Products Production and Use Survey is now available on the ACAA web site here.

Following initial publication of the survey results to ACAA members in October, some minor corrections were made to the final report tables. ACAA members are urged to discard any previous copies of the 2009 survey and use the data now available on the web site.

Since 1966 the American Coal Ash Association has conducted an annual survey of production and use of various coal combustion products. Annual CCP production in 2009 was almost 2 million tons less than 2008 and utilization declined this year to 41.6% as compared to 44.53 % in 2008. ACAA believes the downturn in CCP utilization was due to two primary factors: 1) the downturn in the economy; and 2) stigmatization of CCPs resulting from rumors of soon-to-be-released EPA proposed regulations.

ACAA TO PARTNER IN
INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE

The American Coal Ash Association will once again serve as an Organizational Partner for the 2011 International Concrete Sustainability Conference.

Spearheaded by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, the conference will be held in Boston August 9-11, 2011.

The International Concrete Sustainability Conference provides learning and networking opportunities on the latest advances, technical knowledge, continuing research, tools and solutions for sustainable concrete manufacturing and construction. It is being held in conjunction with the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub 2011 Industry Day scheduled for August 11, 2011. Registrants and speakers at the Concrete Sustainability Conference will have the privilege of attending both events.

For more information about the conference, visit www.sustainabilityconf.org.

GENEROUS WESTERN REGION ASH GROUP
CONTRIBUTION BOLSTERS ACAA

Directors of the Western Region Ash Group recently decided to suspend operations of the informal regional organization that has worked to promote beneficial uses of coal ash. In disbanding WRAG, the directors contributed a portion of its remaining funds to the American Coal Ash Association.

The contribution totaled $10,141.54. “We are grateful to the directors and participants of Western Region Ash Group for thinking of ACAA and making this generous contribution,” said Executive Director Tom Adams. “The infusion of funds comes at a critical time for ACAA as we incur extraordinary expenses associated with responding to proposed EPA coal ash regulations.”

VOLUNTARY MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS
ALSO PROVIDE CRUCIAL SUPPORT

To date, 39 member companies have provided voluntary contributions to ACAA to help defray the increased costs attributed largely to ACAA’s involvement with the EPA’s proposed rulemaking.

ACAA maintained a presence at all eight EPA public hearings, has met with many legislative representatives and affiliated organizations, has formed and facilitated task teams for comment writing, and has retained experts to compile and finalize comments for submission.

ACAA members were asked to make a voluntary supplemental contribution of at least 10% of annual ACAA membership dues. Members who have made their voluntary contributions are recognized on the ACAA home page here.

ACAA MEMBER AND COMMITTEE NEWS

In Memoriam

Allan (Al) Babcock, a pioneer of the coal ash beneficial use industry and a Lifetime Honorary Member of ACAA, passed away November 26, 2010.  Mr. Babcock was instrumental in the development of the Association and participated in activities from its inception.  He continued to be involved even after his retirement from Allegheny Energy in 1985.

Mr. Babcock attended the first Ash Symposium which was held at Pittsburgh in 1976 and which resulted in the formation of the National Ash Association (now the American Coal Ash Association).  He worked closely with the Association’s initial Executive Director John Faber to build the Association.  Mr. Babcock was the Secretary Treasurer for many years, personally taking and transcribing meeting minutes and writing Association checks. He devoted many hours to the planning and implementation of the initial Ash Symposia.  He personally started the Association’s newsletter “Ash at Work” and authored it until his retirement.  He and Mr. Faber co-authored numerous papers on applications of coal ash.  They also developed an “Ash Short Course” which was used to educate other utility personnel about ash properties and beneficial uses.  This “Short Course” later became a one week educational program for utility ash mangers.

Mr. Babcock believed that community service was everyone’s obligation.  At one point, he was a member of 14 community boards.  He also served as the official scorer for basketball at West Virginia University and was in charge of media relations for the WVU Press Box for more than 60 years.  Mr. Babcock was an inspiration and a role model.  He will be missed by all who knew him.

Stefan Glogowski, father of American Coal Ash Association Office Manager Annely Noble, passed away November 16, 2010, after a long illness. Mr. Glogowski was a Holocaust survivor as well as a brilliant automotive engineer with several patents, an avid commercial and instrument rated pilot, and a single-handed sailor. A Polish wake was held in his honor November 19-20.

Anyone wishing to make a contribution in Mr. Glogowski’s memory is encouraged to consider the Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive, which is partially sponsored and maintained by the University of Michigan, and which works to promote awareness of genocide through oral and pictorial reports by survivors of the European Holocaust experience. Contributions can be made online here.

ACAA Members in the News

Salt River Materials Group was honored by Arizona’s governor for excellence in energy leadership. The Arizona Authority and the Arizona Association for Economic Development acknowledged the company during the 2010 Governor’s Rural and Regional Development Conference for their involvement in the construction and design of a Net-Zero Energy home for Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona.

The Excellence Awards honor groups that have successfully created and implemented community and economic development strategies. In 2009, Salt River Materials Group partnered with Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona to build the first Net-Zero Energy concrete framed affordable home. The goal for this project was to demonstrate to production homebuilders that air-tight, high-performance construction can be easily achieved with locally available materials and techniques in competitive first-cost environments.

The primary strategy for air-tight construction called for HercuWall®, an innovative panelized concrete forming system that could potentially transform the construction and design of residential dwellings throughout the U.S. During the initial energy modeling phase, provided by Environments For Living®, it was determined that a 1.5 ton mechanical system would be sufficient to cool the 1,320 square foot home. Since the HercuWall® system and spray foam insulation were utilized to create an air-tight building envelope, ‘zero’ leakage was detected during final testing as protocol for the ENERGY STAR® Thermal Bypass Checklist and scored a HERS Rating of 54, which is 46% more efficient than the 2006 Model Energy Code. Based on final test results, Environments For Living® provided their Certified Green status and the EFL Guarantee on heating and cooling costs. The projected average utility costs for this project is $32/month which does not include the contribution from the 5.5kw Integrated Photovoltaic array.

Charah Executive Vice President Danny L. Gray has been named to the board of directors of the American Coal Council, effective January 1, 2011.

The ACC, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the pre-eminent business voice of the American coal industry. The Association is dedicated to advancing the development and utilization of American coal as an economic, abundant and environmentally sound fuel source.

In addition, Gray has also been invited to serve on the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’sEnergy and Environmental Council. The Energy and Environmental Council seeks to promote Kentucky as an energy leader and supports policies to achieve environmental protection without unnecessarily hindering economic development and business growth.

Gray joined Charah in 2008 and has over 32 years experience in the electric utility and coal ash management industries. Mr. Gray graduated with honors from Virginia Tech with a BS in Civil Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in multiple states.

Welcome New Members!
ACAA welcomes the following new members to the Association:

Ecologic Tech, Inc., (formerly Freight Pipeline Company) an ACAA non-voting Associate (A) category member, is in the business of licensing its fly ash products for commercialization by third parties. They have developed a fly ash brick that has won numerous awards for its innovation and is being manufactured in the U.S. courtesy of licensee CalStar Products.  Jerry B. Liu, primary point of contact to ACAA, and Jesse VanEngelenhoven, alternate point of contact to ACAA, have expressed interest in serving on ACAA’s Technical and Communications & Marketing Committees.

JEA, formerly Jacksonville Electric Authority, an ACAA Utility (U) Voting member, is a municipal utility owned by the citizens of Jacksonville, Florida. JEA owns and operates two 320 MW CFBs fired with 90% pet coke and 10% coal. JEA also owns 195 MW of Plant Scherer Unit 4 which is a pulverized coal plant in north Georgia. JEA has beneficially reused 100% of plant CCP production for the last three years, saving their customers over $10 million per year. As a voting member company, Scott Schultz, ACAA’s primary point of contact will serve as a director on ACAA’s Board of Directors and has expressed interest in serving on ACAA’s Government Relations and Technical Committees. JEA’s alternate point of contact is Lindsay Schopp.

Wisconsin Public Service, an ACAA Utility (U) voting member, is an electric utility producer of CCPs whose fuel and byproduct analyst has joined ACAA in order to increase Wisconsin Public Service’s knowledge about opportunities to recycle CCPs in an environmentally sustainable way, minimizing the need for disposal while generating revenue and reducing liability. Dawn DeJardin will be ACAA’s primary point of contact and will join the ACAA board as a director.

FLSmidth, Inc., an ACAA Associate (A) member, is the leading supplier of complete plants, equipment and services to the global cement and minerals industries. Glenn Lunger will be ACAA’s primary point of contact. David Escott will be the alternate point of contact.

Essroc – Italcementi Group, an ACAA Marketer (M) Voting member, is a leading manufacturer of cement, concrete and chemical admixtures serving North America. As a voting member company, Gary Molchan, ACAA’s primary point of contact will serve as a director on ACAA’s Board of Directors and has expressed interest in serving on ACAA’s Technical Committee.

ADA Carbon Solutions, an ACAA Associate (A) member, produces activated carbon for mercury control in utility flue gasses. Robert Huston will be ACAA’s primary point of contact. Marilyn Treacy will be the alternate point of contact.

Alcoa Generating Corporation, an ACAA Non-Electric Utility CCP Producer (N) Voting member, owns and operates three and one-half of a fourth coal-fired boilers (with scrubbing units) to provide power to their adjacent smelting and rolling mill operation which are part of Alcoa Warrick Operations. As a voting member company, Rachel Wright, ACAA’s primary point of contact will serve as a director on ACAA’s Board of Directors and has expressed interest in serving on ACAA’s Technical Committee.

JOB POSTING: CCP SALES MANAGER

Executive recruiting firm Austin Group Energy is seeking candidates for a Houston based position for an Account Manager (Sales Manager) for Coal Combustion Products Waste Management.

For more information on the position, contact Jennifer Botterweck at 281-600-8147 or jennifer@austingrp.com.

The Phoenix was sent to you from the American Coal Ash Association: info@acaa-usa.org.
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The ACAA’s mission is to advance the management and use of coal combustion products in ways that are environmentally responsible, technically sound, commercially competitive, and more supportive of a sustainable global community.