Bulldozer tracks in ash at brown coal mine
Jänschwalde, Germany

Coal combustion produces three kinds of solid waste: fly ash which goes up the chimney,
bottom ash which falls to the bottom of the steam boiler furnace,
and bypsum sludge that accumulates in exhaust scrubbers.
At this power plant, some of the ash is sold for "beneficial reuse"
such as mixing with concrete, but most is put back into the mine where the toxins
are free to mix with groundwater. Some dangerous toxics known to be present in coal ash are
uranium, hexavalent chromium, Lead, arsenic, and selenium.