Jul. 1--A top Illinois dam safety official said Wednesday that two coal ash storage sites identified by federal environmental regulators as "high hazard" sites had passed recent state inspections.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Tuesday a list of 44 impoundments around the country where coal ash is stored that could result in a loss of human life should they collapse.

The agency began gathering information about the hundreds of coal ash impoundments throughout the country after one in Tennessee collapsed late last year, sending more than a billion gallons of coal sludge into a nearby valley, where it damaged homes and tainted local water supplies.

Impoundments at two coal-fired power plants in Illinois owned by Dynegy Inc. were included on the EPA's new list -- one at its Wood River plant in Alton and another in Havana, southwest of Peoria. Both sites have also been classified as "high hazard" by the state based on their potential to result in the loss of human life should they ever fail. Such sites require annual inspections under Illinois' dam safety program.

That designation -- just like the EPA's -- does not reflect the stability of the structure, said Paul Mauer, senior dam safety engineer for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Mauer said the sites had passed inspections within the past year.

"We do not have a history of problems with these sites," Mauer said. "They are good citizens as far as our program goes."

A spokesman for Dynegy said EPA officials had not asked them to make any changes at either of the plants.

"We will continue to monitor them and continue to work with the state of Illinois," said David Byford, a Dynegy spokesman. "We feel very good about both locations."

There are no national standards for the storage and disposal of coal combustion waste. The EPA does not consider the waste hazardous, even though it contains harmful metals such as lead and arsenic.

But under the direction of new EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, agency officials notified, earlier this year, utilities operating nine plants in Missouri and 11 in Illinois that it needed information about the structural integrity of the coal ash storage ponds. Among the companies notified were Ameren Corp., Dynegy, Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. and Great Plains Energy, the parent company of Kansas City Power and Light.

Existing coal plants produce about 130 million tons of combustion waste each year, according to industry estimates. In March, the Natural Resources Defense Council estimated that new coal-fired power plants would add about 18 million tons to that amount, which includes 18,000 tons of toxic metals. The EPA plans to craft new regulations for the management of coal combustion waste by the end of this year.

"The presence of liquid coal ash impoundments near our homes, schools and business could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture," Jackson said. "By compiling a list of these facilities, (the) EPA will be better able to identify and reduce potential risks by working with states and local emergency responders."

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