ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
A controversy over the use of coal cinders on the New River Trail is raising questions about whether the same material should be spread on the Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail.
The coal ash, a byproduct of American Electric Power Co.'s power plant incinerators, has already been used on small sections of the 57-mile New River Trail. Two strips in Pulaski County, totaling 300 yards, which had been washed out by heavy rains, were rebuilt with cinders last year, and another two-mile section at Foster Falls was added in May.
But the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality stopped the spreading after receiving a petition containing the signatures of more than 100 people opposed to the practice.
Karita Knisely, president of the Friends of the New River Trail, collected the petitions. Although cinders were used as a base for the railroad tracks more than 100 years ago, she said, the ash from modern incinerators is finer and erodes more easily.
"What they're putting in there is not staying there," she said. "The public has pretty much hated the stuff."
Janet Smith of the Virginia Department of Water and Soil Conservation visited the trail at Knisely's request but said she saw no evidence of heavy erosion.
"The sections that I looked at were fairly stable," she said.
Still, Knisely said she believes the cinders are polluting streams along the trail.
Tom Ayres, spokesman for AEP, said his company is seeking approval to continue donating the cinders for both trails.
"We're trying to use it to avoid disposal landfill costs," he said. "We'd rather give it away."
Norman Aldridge, assistant division director for DEQ, said he knows of no other trail in Virginia using the material. Although the ash might have traces of lead and heavy metals, Aldridge said, it is not a hazardous waste. However, it is classified as a solid waste by state environmental laws. Under state law, the ash can be used without DEQ approval in the foundation of a building or as a road base because in both cases the ash would be covered and could not erode. Ash not used for such purposes must be buried in a landfill, Aldridge said.
For AEP to receive permission to use the ash as a trail cover, he said, the company must prove that it would be beneficial and would create no greater impact on the environment than the original cinder used by the railroad or other types of materials available as a trail covering. Aldridge said DEQ officials will look at the size of the cinder granules and the trail's distance from streams and wells.
Tim Gubala, Roanoke County's director of economic development and a member of the group planning the Hanging Rock trail, said he was unaware of any state prohibitions on using coal cinders. The material was designated as the likely trail covering when plans for the project were announced earlier this month.
Gubala said the cinders are only one option, but he said asphalt will be more expensive and more difficult to apply to the trail. He said some sort of trail covering will be necessary because the grass and large rocks covering the path now would prevent cyclists from using it.
Patrick Craig of the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C., said only 20 of the nation's 835 hiking trails developed along old railroad tracks use cinder. He said asphalt and crushed limestone are the most common trail bases. However, he said he was unaware of any problems with the cinder, which is used primarily for rural trails because it is easy to maintain.
Knisely said the ash gums up bicycle gears and is unsafe for biking trails.
"When people bike through this ash, you wreck, because it ends up being soft like sand," she said.
Mary Rhoades, president of the Blacksburg chapter of the Sierra Club, said she also has heard of problems cyclists have had with dust from the ash.
"When they go to use the trail, they really stir it up," she said.
Richard Burton, a founding member of the New River Bicycle Club, said the ash does accumulate in bicycle chains.
"After five miles, you can't drink out of your water bottle unless you like the taste of ash," he added.
But Burton said mountain bikers expect to get dusty and muddy on the trails, and they're just happy to have a place to bike that isn't on the highway.
"You'll have to do some scrubbing and picking," he said, "but then again, you won't get hit by a truck."
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB