"Iowa Universities Will Not Alter Coal Ash Disposal Practices"

"Iowa’s three largest public universities have determined that their coal ash disposal method does not pose a risk to the public health, a decision some say was made without sufficient evidence or regard for experiences with contamination in neighboring states.

At least one expert said he is baffled that institutions with “a mandate to serve the public” would engage in an activity other states have determined is dangerous enough to prohibit.

The University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa are among the state’s biggest producers of coal ash, a toxic byproduct of coal combustion. All three schools dispose of their ash in an unlined, unmonitored former quarry in Waterloo that received a waiver from the state in 2002 allowing it to use the ash as fill in its reclamation process."

Jason Hancock reports for the Iowa Independent August 6, 2009.