20150042 Ver 1_Edward Kelly_20150405

Burdette, Jennifer a
From: Edward Kelly <nedkellypbo @me.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2015 3:52 PM
To: Craig Brown; Higgins, Karen
Cc: Burdette, Jennifer a; Devane, Boyd; Jim Crawford; Mike Cross; Diana Hales; Karen
Howard; Walter Petty
Subject: Core Action ID Number: SAW - 2014 -02254
Attachments: 4 April 2015 Questions concerning Corps Action ID no SAW - 2014- 02254.pdf
Dear Craig Brown,
The contents of this email are duplicated in the attached pdf document below. As a resident of Pittsboro,
relatively close to the sites in Chatham and Lee counties selected for storage of coal ash, I am very concerned
about Corps Action ID Number SAW -2014- 02254. Let me start by saying that many residents in Chatham
County are already chronically unhappy about the nuclear waste that accumulates daily at the nearby Shearon
Harris nuclear plant. Now we are being asked to be the dumping ground for someone else's disregard for the
environment that has been going on for many years at a distant site or sites. It is ironic that in both cases,
investor owned utilities are the cause of the environmental risks.
Coal ash contains a significant amount of toxic heavy metals and organic chemicals that pose risks to the
environment and to public health. The idea of moving coal ash a distance of many miles from its accumulation
site to other places unrelated to its production sounds like multiplying the risk of contamination from original
sites to potentially any point along its route of transport, and especially at the locations where it currently lies
and those to which it is being transported. Also, since the prevailing winds in the Chatham and Lee County
areas blow from southwest to northeast, we are usually upwind of the Raleigh metropolitan area, a high - density
population target for any accidents or unintended leakage that may occur during or after the process of moving
the coal ash to its intended places of storage.
With these thoughts in mind, I am posing the following questions to you:
• What method will be used to move coal ash from existing sites and containment areas into train cars, and
what types of train cars will be used to transport the ash?
• What will be the route(s) of transport? How much escape of coal ash do you anticipate while the ash is
being moved, and at what points are the largest amounts of coal ash escape likely to occur.
• What process will be used to move the coal ash from railway cars to the proposed storage areas, and how
much spillage of coal ash do you anticipate beyond the confines of the proposed storage containers?
• Will the storage containers themselves pose any threat to the environment, that is, does the High Density
Polyethylene liner for the storage container pose any threat to the environment?
• Since coal ash itself is very corrosive, have studies been done to assure that coal ash will not corrode through
the High Density Polyethylene long before the 500 years of projected secure duration of the liner for the
coal ash container?

Does the "high shrink -swell potential" mentioned in the section titled "Existing Site Conditions" on page 2
of the Public Notice document issued on March 5, 2015 pose any threat to the integrity of the liner of the
container?
• Will workers involved in moving the coal ash wear hazardous materials protective clothing?
o If not, why not?
o If yes, to what extent does this imply that the proposed movement of coal ash will be dangerous to
biologic species, including humans, at certain points, or at unpredictable locations, along the corridor
for moving the coal ash?
In closing, I have one additional thought that may or may not be relevant. I do not know exactly how the sites
in Chatham and Lee Counties were chosen for this project, and I assume from the description of the proposed
storage sites that they have reasonable geologic conditions for such a project, should it be the best solution for
storage of the previously mishandled coal ash. However, I'm not convinced that this is the best solution. And,
as a citizen of this area, I cannot ignore the fact that we are in a gerrymandered district that is majority
Democratic, while the executive and legislative branches of government in our state are Republican. Does the
choice of this solution to a problem that is both environmental and political have to do with current electoral
politics in North Carolina? I hope not.
Edward A. Kelly, MD
315 Hillsboro Street
Pittsboro, NC 27413
nedkellypbogme.com

To: Craig Brown, US Army Corp of Engineers, Craig_T.Brown @usace.army.mil
CC: Karen Higgins, 401 and Buffer Permitting Unit, karen.higgins @ncdenr.gov;
Jennifer Burdette, ennifer.burdette @ncdenr.gov; Boyd Devane,
boyd.devane @ncdenr; Jim Crawford, Chair, Chatham County Board of
Commissioners (CCBoC), iames.crawford @chathamnc.org: Mike Cross CCBoC,
mike.cross @chathamnc.org; Diana Hales, CCBoC, diana.hales @chathamnc.org;
Karen Howard CCBoC, karen.howard @chathamnc.org; Walter Petty CCBoC
[e-mail]
Concerns and questions about Corps Action ID Number: SAW- 2014 - 02254, the
Wilmington District, Corps of Engineers (Corps), involving the movement and
subsequent storage of coal ash from the Dan river site or any other site to proposed
storage sites in Chatham and Lee Counties, in the State of North Carolina.
Dear Craig Brown,
As a resident of Pittsboro, relatively close to the sites in Chatham and Lee counties
selected for storage of coal ash, I am very concerned about Corps Action ID Number
SAW- 2014 - 02254. Let me start by saying that many residents in Chatham County
are already chronically unhappy about the nuclear waste that accumulates daily at
the nearby Shearon Harris nuclear plant. Now we are being asked to be the
dumping ground for someone else's disregard for the environment that has been
going on for many years at a distant site or sites. It is ironic that in both cases,
investor owned utilities are the cause of the environmental risks.
Coal ash contains a significant amount of toxic heavy metals and organic chemicals
that pose risks to the environment and to public health. The idea of moving coal ash
a distance of many miles from its accumulation site to other places unrelated to its
production sounds like multiplying the risk of contamination from original sites to
potentially any point along its route of transport, and especially at the locations
where it currently lies and those to which it is being transported. Also, since the
prevailing winds in the Chatham and Lee County areas blow from southwest to
northeast, we are usually upwind of the Raleigh metropolitan area, a high - density
population target for any accidents or unintended leakage that may occur during or
after the process of moving the coal ash to its intended places of storage.
With these thoughts in mind, I am posing the following questions to you:
•! What method will be used to move coal ash from existing sites and containment
areas into train cars, and what types of train cars will be used to transport the
ash?
•! What will be the route(s) of transport? How much escape of coal ash do you
anticipate while the ash is being moved, and at what points are the largest
amounts of coal ash escape likely to occur.

•! What process will be used to move the coal ash from railway cars to the
proposed storage areas, and how much spillage of coal ash do you anticipate
beyond the confines of the proposed storage containers?
•! Will the storage containers themselves pose any threat to the environment, that
is, does the High Density Polyethylene liner for the storage container pose any
threat to the environment?
•! Since coal ash itself is very corrosive, have studies been done to assure that coal
ash will not corrode through the High Density Polyethylene long before the 500
years of projected secure duration of the liner for the coal ash container?
•! Does the "high shrink -swell potential" mentioned in the section titled "Existing
Site Conditions" on page 2 of the Public Notice document issued on March 5,
2015 pose any threat to the integrity of the liner of the container?
•! Will workers involved in moving the coal ash wear hazardous materials
protective clothing?
o! If not, why not?
o! If yes, to what extent does this imply that the proposed movement of coal
ash will be dangerous to biologic species, including humans, at certain
points, or at unpredictable locations, along the corridor for moving the
coal ash?
In closing, I have one additional thought that may or may not be relevant. I do not
know exactly how the sites in Chatham and Lee Counties were chosen for this
project, and I assume from the description of the proposed storage sites that they
have reasonable geologic conditions for such a project, should it be the best solution
for storage of the previously mishandled coal ash. However, I'm not convinced that
this is the best solution. And, as a citizen of this area, I cannot ignore the fact that we
are in a gerrymandered district that is majority Democratic, while the executive and
legislative branches of government in our state are Republican. Does the choice of
this solution to a problem that is both environmental and political have to do with
current electoral politics in North Carolina? I hope not.
Edward A. Kelly, MD
315 Hillsboro Street
Pittsboro, NC 27413
[e-mail]