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Location
Lexington, Kentucky
Start Date
7-5-2026 9:30 AM
End Date
7-5-2026 10:00 AM
Description
In 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) established new regulations for coal combustion residual management units (CCRMUs), defined as coal combustion residual (CCR) deposits placed on power plant properties outside of landfills or surface impoundments. US EPA supported the rulemaking with modeling-based risk analyses and established regulatory requirements based on fill size. Linear CCRMU, such as backfill along pipelines or haul roads, have individual segments that may be composed of a small amount of mass below the threshold for regulation, but the cumulative mass over the full linear feature extent may exceed regulatory thresholds. This study applies US EPA's 2024 modeling framework to evaluate the risk characteristics of linear CCRMU and to identify conditions under which downgradient groundwater concentrations may exceed Groundwater Protection Standards (GWPS). The modeling effort evaluates a range of source geometries representative of linear CCRMU configurations, including trenches and haul roads, and examines how linear feature length and associated mass influence the downgradient groundwater concentrations. The analysis also explores the sensitivity of predicted concentrations to downgradient receptor well placement over a range of transport distances, with the objective of informing how geometry, transport pathways, and conservative modeling assumptions affect risk characterization for linear CCRMU features. These results demonstrate that risk from linear CCRMU fills is driven by a combination of geometry, transport distance, and conservative worst-case assumptions, providing technical insight into conditions under which linear CCRMU may warrant regulatory consideration and informing site-specific permitting and compliance decisions.
Document Type
Presentation
Archival?
Archival
Included in
Energy Systems Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Mining Engineering Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Structural Materials Commons, Sustainability Commons
Risk Evaluation of Linear Coal Combustion Residual Management Unit (CCRMU) Fills
Lexington, Kentucky
In 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) established new regulations for coal combustion residual management units (CCRMUs), defined as coal combustion residual (CCR) deposits placed on power plant properties outside of landfills or surface impoundments. US EPA supported the rulemaking with modeling-based risk analyses and established regulatory requirements based on fill size. Linear CCRMU, such as backfill along pipelines or haul roads, have individual segments that may be composed of a small amount of mass below the threshold for regulation, but the cumulative mass over the full linear feature extent may exceed regulatory thresholds. This study applies US EPA's 2024 modeling framework to evaluate the risk characteristics of linear CCRMU and to identify conditions under which downgradient groundwater concentrations may exceed Groundwater Protection Standards (GWPS). The modeling effort evaluates a range of source geometries representative of linear CCRMU configurations, including trenches and haul roads, and examines how linear feature length and associated mass influence the downgradient groundwater concentrations. The analysis also explores the sensitivity of predicted concentrations to downgradient receptor well placement over a range of transport distances, with the objective of informing how geometry, transport pathways, and conservative modeling assumptions affect risk characterization for linear CCRMU features. These results demonstrate that risk from linear CCRMU fills is driven by a combination of geometry, transport distance, and conservative worst-case assumptions, providing technical insight into conditions under which linear CCRMU may warrant regulatory consideration and informing site-specific permitting and compliance decisions.
