Army Corps considering coal ash as levee fix

ST. LOUIS -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is tapping public feedback about whether it should shore up some of the St. Louis area's ailing Mississippi River levees with coal byproducts that environmentalists say contain hazardous substances.

The Corps has scheduled a public hearing for Thursday in St. Louis about the plan.

Coal ash is a remnant of coal-fired electrical generation. Studies have suggested the ash contains arsenic, selenium, mercury and other substances defined as hazardous, and may be closely linked to cancer.

The agency said an environmental assessment issued in May determined the mixture of lime and coal ash it may inject into the levees is safe and cost-effective.

Regional environmentalist Kathy Andria said the ash is unstable and degrades in water, making it ill-suited for levees.