Coal Ash

iquitos · Post by **iquitos** » Thu. Dec. 02, 2010 7:50 am

Any body out there have any good suggestions for getting rid of anthracite coal ash? Can you compost it? Is it harmful to the enviroment?
thanks

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Thu. Dec. 02, 2010 8:43 am

I live in the shamokin Pa. area. We take it to the township and they use it on the roads as nonskid. Greatest traction grabber for ice and snow you ever saw. It's not compost material, it is acidic, it does not breakdown.

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Thu. Dec. 02, 2010 12:19 pm

Do a search on ASH DISPOSAL, been discussed and many uses.....

iquitos · Post by **iquitos** » Thu. Dec. 02, 2010 4:29 pm

thanks Dave

I'm On Fire · Post by **I'm On Fire** » Fri. Dec. 03, 2010 5:25 pm

Oh damn, I've been tossing it out with the rest of the stuff I toss in my compost pile. Should I not be doing this? Am I going to damage something? Will I kill the tree next to where I dump the ash?

freetown fred · Post by **freetown fred** » Fri. Dec. 03, 2010 6:01 pm

put it this way--a couple of times last year I damn sure wasen't going off the porch--snowin & blowin like a bastard--soooo,I just dumped a couple of 5 gall.. pails of ash on top of one of the flower gardens & everything came back up just fine in the spring---I did rake it around & smoothed it out after the snow got gone

Berlin · Post by **Berlin** » Fri. Dec. 03, 2010 6:06 pm

coal ash is slightly acidic depending on the particular coal you're burning, but no it won't harm anything. The trace elements and minerals in coal ash are comparable to the soil in general; unlike wood ash, it's basically coarse sand so it won't do much to help your compost.

Post by **franco b** » Sun. Dec. 12, 2010 11:54 am

I once had an old house that burned coal for many years and the previous owners just dumped the ash in the back yard. I wanted to plant a hedge of Arborvitae but when I dug a trench I found almost all coal ash. The hedge grew fine.

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Sun. Dec. 12, 2010 1:52 pm

I have been building it up along my garage to raise the yard a bit, the weeds love it!!

david78 · Post by **david78** » Sun. Dec. 12, 2010 2:00 pm

Plenty of plants, like arborvitae, prefer an acidic soil, so coal ash might actually be beneficial for those.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Sun. Dec. 12, 2010 9:59 pm

I have a coal ash mountain near my house (all from me

). In the summer, you'd never know it was there. Everything from grass to picker bushes grow in and around it.

2001Sierra · Post by **2001Sierra** » Sun. Dec. 12, 2010 11:43 pm

Just do not put in on concrete, it will eat it away. Otherwise use it as fill, or give it to your local trash hauler. Presently I am using to build a ramp to my new coal storage shed.

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Tue. Dec. 14, 2010 10:54 am

Here in the Trevorton/Shamokin Pa. area the coal ash was used to MAKE concrete. Not unusual to find "ash block" walls or ashcrete as mortar for stone walls.

I have a stack of ashcrete building blocks that I kept when I took a wall down in the back yard area. You can clearly see the ash and small pieces of anthracite coal in the block.

snuffy · Post by **snuffy** » Wed. Dec. 15, 2010 11:04 pm

I'm thinking about selling 10lb bags in the city as a cheaper alternative to rock salt. Think it'll work?

Short Bus · Post by **Short Bus** » Wed. Dec. 15, 2010 11:16 pm

I think it would track into a house, maybe.
I bagged some of my clinkers and they ride around in my truck to help if I get stuck in the snow.