Elements of environmental concern in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments: A perspective of Fort Union coals in northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region
The elements of environmental concern (EECs) named in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments include 12 trace elements consisting of antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, and uranium. Although all these trace elements are potentially hazardous, arsenic, mercury, lead, and selenium may be targeted in forthcoming Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Fort Union coals contain all the trace elements named in the Clean Air Act Amendments; however, the presence and amounts of individual trace elements vary from basin to basin. In the Powder River Basin, the major producing Fort Union coals (Wyodak-Anderson and equivalent coal beds, and Rosebud coal bed) contain the lowest (or statistically as low) amounts of EECs of any of the coal producing basins (i.e., Williston, Hanna, and Green River) in the region. In addition, when the arithmetic means of these trace elements in Powder River Basin coals are compared to other regions in the conterminous US, they are lower than those of Cretaceous coals in Colorado Plateau, Tertiary lignites in the Gulf Coast, and Pennsylvanian coals in the Illinois and Appalachian Basins. Thus, elements of environmental concern are generally low in Fort Union coals in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region, and particularly low in the Powder River Basin. Projected increase in production of Powder River Basin coals will, therefore, be of greater benefit to the nation than an increase in development and production of coals in other basins.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20013000
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 23rd International Technical Conference on Coal Utilization and Fuel Systems, Clearwater, FL (US), 03/09/1998--03/13/1998; Other Information: PBD: [1998]; Related Information: In: The proceedings of the 23rd international technical conference on coal utilization and fuel systems, by Sakkestad, B.A. [ed.], 1164 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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