If there's that much fly ash coming out that's definitely illegal and someone should contact the EPA.
If they are following regulations it should legitimately be mostly steam/carbon dioxide with no significant particulates. They're required to have scrubbers that remove almost all of the particulate matter.
This is not to say coal power plants are not bad for the environment. They definitely are, they emit carbon dioxide, heat pollution, etc. What another person said about it being the dirtiest fossil fuel out there is true.
I just want to clarify that these ones are breaking the law and being way worse for the environment than they could be.
Necessary-Dog5278 t1_iruk9cj wrote
Reply to comment by POOP-Naked in North Carolina Lake Sediments Show Decades of Coal Ash Contamination: An analysis of sediments from five North Carolina lakes near coal-burning power plants has found that coal ash pollution of surface waters has been more persistent and widespread than was previously known. by thinkB4WeSpeak
If there's that much fly ash coming out that's definitely illegal and someone should contact the EPA.
If they are following regulations it should legitimately be mostly steam/carbon dioxide with no significant particulates. They're required to have scrubbers that remove almost all of the particulate matter.
This is not to say coal power plants are not bad for the environment. They definitely are, they emit carbon dioxide, heat pollution, etc. What another person said about it being the dirtiest fossil fuel out there is true.
I just want to clarify that these ones are breaking the law and being way worse for the environment than they could be.
Source: took a course on power plants in college.