Published February 1964 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
From the Office of United States Senator Robert C. Byrd Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington 25, D.C. Volume IV -- Number 6 2/7/64 BYRD'S EYE VIEW A Public Service Column by SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD NEW MARKET BEING EXPLORED FOR COAL IN MUNICIPAL WASTE DISPOSAL The possibility of a new market for coal in the field of waste disposal has now developed as a result of experimentation being done by the Office of Coal Research, under the U. S. Department of the Interior. Waste disposal has become an increasing problem for population and industrial centers. Coal is the latest substance under consideration as an efficient means of accomplishing the task of reducing waste material so that it can be dispersed in a manner that is both convenient and healthful to our communities. The Office of Coal Research has awarded a research contract to a private corporation which will attempt to develop one or more integrated waste-settling processes in which certain characteristics of fine-size coal will be utilized. The properties of coal as an absorbent, settling agent, flocculent, and filter aid will be explored for the purpose of speeding 'and facilitating the removal of sewage and industrial wastes from water. While coal does not exhibit superior qualities in all these functions, it is believed that its overall usefulness, plus its availability and relatively low cost, may prove it to be the best answer to the municipal problem of waste disposal. Coal has the added value of having a caloric content which should enable it to be used to incinerate the solids removed from water, and at the same time to generate steam which can be used for other phases of the treatment process, or for unrelated purposes such as the generation of electricity. The agents now commonly used in the process of waste disposal are various chemicals which leach out the liquid, leaving the solid (mainly nitrogenous) matter to be stockpiled as fertilizer, or burned, or dumped in the sea. The large spaces required for drying the nitrogenous matter, plus the present surplus of such fertilizer, make this method increasingly expensive. Moreover, the windblown debris from such drying areas contributes seriously to the air pollution in many communities. Fine-size coal not only possesses the ability to conglomerate particles of waste matter, but also is capable to making incineration possible without extensive drying. The Office of Coal Research hopes to develop techniques and equipment' for utilizing coal which can be adopted by major communities, especially those which lie within easy transportation of the principal coal fields. Previous experiments have shown the value of “Anthrasilt,” a form of anthracite coal dust, in sewage filtering. But the present experimentation will study lignite and bituminous coal from the point of view of practical adaptation of such coal to the processing of waste matters. Coal has some of the most complex chemical and physical properties of any natural resource material, and through aggressive research we can make the break-through to sizable new markets that can be created for coal outside of conventional energy uses. For West Virginians, whose economy has been so closely tied in with coal production, this is welcome and hopeful news. -30-