Coal ash hazards?

Zipper13 · October 2020

My Boston-area house was built in 1921 with steam heat. I can only assume that it was originally fueled by coal (the boiler we inherited when we bought it was an oil to gas swap out by the gas company). We recently built a ground level deck next to the window to a room in the basement that previous owners called the "coal cellar" and found several chunks of what appeared to be coal in the soil as we dug out the footings.

Recently, something has started to dig around and under our detached garage in the back corner of our small lot.

Surrounding the animals burrows are piles of lightweight white/gray/black flaky/powdery stuff. It looks just like campfire ash. The thing is, I don't see a source of anything like this anywhere in sight - not even in the neighbor's yard.

The best we can figure is that at some point coal ash was buried in the back of the lot and then later the garage was built on top of that and now something is excavating the ash to make home.

We'll do what we can to evict the animal(s), but we're wondering if 100 year coal ash is particularly hazardous. Obviously I'm not going to put it in my kid's sandbox, but has this digging animal unearthed some awful contaminant?

Jamie Hall · October 2020

Nope. Stuff is pretty inert, particularly by now. Mind you, I wouldn't eat it. Nor would I suggest breathing any more of it than you have to. Nor would I use it in a kid's sandbox.

Mind you, you can read all manner of horror stories about coal ash, and in large quantities it is definitely not good for you. But then, that's true of a lot of things.

What I wouldn't do is make a production of it. Bury it, cap it, and forget about it.

EBEBRATT-Ed · October 2020

Coal came out of the ground, they just put it back from where it came from

Grallert · October 2020

don't put it on you garden

Solid_Fuel_Man · October 2020

I'd bet there is coal ash all over the place from ye olde days gone by. I find bits and pieces of coal in many 1950s and older buildings.

I wouldnt worry about it.

Zipper13 · October 2020

Thanks all! Calmed some (irrational) anxiety here.
We always figured our soil was likely contaminated to some degree with lead paint chips and dust so our tomatoes are grown in elevated beds with clean soil. But seeing this stuff was new and initially a bit unsettling not knowing much about it!

And to be honest as I think about it, this level of exposure - even if it was something bad - probably isn't the worst I've experienced. Growing up I'd play paintball in and on the grounds of an abandoned tannery that has since been deemed a Superfund site. So I have that going for me.

hot_rod · October 2020

You could always take a sample in and have it tested.
Arsenic, boron, lead and mercury are common in coal ash.
I'll bet the EPA has some guidelines.
Radon testing seems to be the big deal these days, most home inspections, for bank financing, now require it.

Robert_25 · October 2020

Being on the Northeast, your home was likely heated with anthracite coal for the first few decades. Anthracite ash qualifies as clean fill per the EPA. It is NOT the same as the ash from power plants. Sleep easy.

Jamie Hall · October 2020

hot_rod said:
You could always take a sample in and have it tested.
Arsenic, boron, lead and mercury are common in coal ash.
I'll bet the EPA has some guidelines.
Radon testing seems to be the big deal these days, most home inspections, for bank financing, now require it.

Well, yes you could. Not cheap. The EPA does, indeed, have some guidelines for the common possible contaminants from coal ash. The current RCRA 8 list is here: https://www.hazardouswasteexperts.com/heavy-metal-waste-regulation-which-substances-make-up-the-rcra-8-metals/ . Boron is not limited in solid waste, but is in water.

There is a rather serious downside to making such a test. The stuff is not a hazard unless you come in contact with it yourself -- hence our recommendation above that you bury it, cap it, and forget it.

However

If you go and have it tested, and one or more constituents are over the limit (in the northeast, Arsenic is often naturally occurring over the limit, and Lead is not at all uncommon), you are obliged to remediate the site at your expense, whether you put it there or not. That could run well into the mid six figures; it's often cheaper to stop paying your taxes, stop paying your mortgage, and abandon the property.

Don't poke the d__n bear.

Zipper13 · October 2020

I'm comfortable not testing it and not digging in more to see how much is down there. As best we figure anyway it's from under the slab for the garage but remember at this point I am not certain of the source and I'm happy keeping it that way. I'll mask up and dispose of it and leave it at that.
No bears - I repeat no - bears will be poked!

Coal ash hazards?

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