Environmental security

This week in pollution: Coal ash is radioactive and will be for more than 1,000 years

Arsenic? Check. Lead? Yep. Mercury. Sadly, yes. Selenium, boron, Chromium 6: Yes, yes and yes.

Now add radioactivity to the long list of coal ash’s environmental and health concerns.

Radioactivity in coal ash has been found to contain seven to 10 times the levels present in the original hunk of coal. That finding is problematic not only for surface and groundwater, said Nancy Lauer of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, but also for the air — and the people breathing it.

For the past two days, Duke University has been hosting its annual Environmental Health Scholars forum at the 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Durham. It’s been fascinating but rather depressing. (Next year, may we suggest tins of Zoloft in a swag bag?)