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A landslide in Forward that dumped thousands of tons of gray, pudding-like coal ash into a creek has raised concerns about whether the ash is safe for its common use as a fill material.

State and private testing of Perry Mills Run, the creek that was covered by the landslide, found arsenic levels were 10 times the state limit after the slide. While state officials agree with environmentalists that the dangerous chemical leached out from the coal ash, they disagree on whether that means modern coal ash policies are unsafe.

Those results should worry anyone living near an ash fill because it could be sending harmful chemicals into the groundwater and the air, said Lisa Graves-Marcucci, 45, an environmental activist from Jefferson Hills. "I think it is a very real human health threat."

But state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Tom Rathbun said his agency has more than 15 years of test results from ash fills across the state to show coal ash doesn't contaminate surrounding water tables. The ash pile at Forward was dumped into the hollow several decades before the state had regulations limiting how much heavy metal a coal ash fill can contain and where it can be used, he said.

"Saying that this stuff is bad doesn't mean that coal ash is bad," Rathbun said. "To say that it's the same as what comes out of a modern coal-burning power plant would be inaccurate because we don't know."

Pennsylvania relies heavily on coal to fuel power plants and industrial furnaces. Using the burned residue as fill material is a lot cheaper than dumping it in a lined landfill. For about 17 years, the DEP has allowed millions of tons of ash to be spread across Pennsylvania in construction fills and mine reclamation projects because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesn't classify coal ash as a hazardous waste.

The EPA classification is based on a test that predicts the heavy metals in the ash won't leach out in significant amounts if the ash comes into contact with water.

But that's not what happened in Forward.

The ash pile was dumped in Perry Mills Run hollow sometime in the 1940s or '50s to create pastureland.

State testing of four ash samples from the pile showed arsenic concentrations between 198 parts per million and 268 parts per million. For fill in a residential area, state regulations prohibit the use of ash fill with more than 12 parts per million of arsenic.

Arsenic is a toxic element and a known carcinogen. Swallowing high levels can result in death. Long-term, low-level exposure to arsenic can cause the skin to darken and small corns or warts to appear on the palms, soles and torso. Skin contact may also cause redness and swelling. It can cause nausea, vomiting, abnormal heart rhythm and tingling in the hands and feet.

On Jan. 25, part of the Forward ash pile collapsed, sending a block of muddy ash the length and width of a football field and about 150 feet deep oozing downstream and across Restosky Ridge Road.

The nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project, in Washington, D.C., hired GLA Laboratories, of King of Prussia, Montgomery County, to test a water sample taken from the creek. The test showed arsenic levels of 1.7 parts per million. That's more than 10 times the state and federal limits of 0.15 parts per million in streams and rivers. An independent test by the DEP verified the levels and showed the arsenic was entering the stream at the landslide.

However, the arsenic in Perry Mills Run didn't threaten residents' drinking water supply because they use municipal water. The creek empties into the Monongahela River, and state officials said the rest of the water in the river diluted the arsenic to a safe level before it reached the first public water intake.

In addition to contaminating water, arsenic also can poison people who inhale it in high enough levels. Stewart Diess, 59, of Forward, said he and other Restosky Ridge Road residents are doing what they can to keep the ash out of their homes. As the ash residue along the creek and road dries out, however, they're worried that they'll end up breathing the dust.

DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said the state considers arsenic an inhalation risk when the concentration reaches 57,000 parts per million. None of the test results has shown arsenic exceeding that limit, but in Forward, most of the ash is small enough to lodge in the lungs, she said.

"We believe the real health concern (in Forward) is inhalation. We remain concerned about that," Humphreys said.

Charles Norris, a Denver-based geologist who specializes in groundwater issues, said the results from the testing at Forward highlight the shortcomings of state and federal regulations. The regulations are based on laboratory tests that don't adequately simulate how the ash will respond over time to the atmosphere and water, he said.

"If you're going to be putting it out in the environment, it is going to react. It's not a stable substance," he said.

Residents, meanwhile, are tired of waiting for the state to finish cleaning up the coal ash, Diess said. While the state trucked thousands of tons of the ash out of the hollow in the first few days after the landslide, tons more remain in residents' yards. The residents face economic ruin unless the state cleans up the ash, he said.

"I'd never planned on moving from here, but this is what my children will inherit when I'm gone," Diess said. As it is, they'll inherit property they can't use and can't sell unless something is done about the ash, he said.

Humphreys said part of the reason the cleanup is stalled is that residents won't sign a standard waiver form giving the state's cleanup contractor access to their properties.

Tom Headley, vice chairman of Forward's board of supervisors, said he understands the frustration Diess and other residents feel because the remaining ash hasn't been cleaned up yet. By comparison, a mess caused by a derailment on Jan. 31 has already been cleaned up, he said.

The difference is that Norfolk Southern Corp. was clearly responsible for the 13 rail cars carrying anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, so when the cars derailed into the Allegheny River near East Deer, the company moved in right away to fix the problem. With the coal ash, the state hasn't identified the utility or other company that dumped the ash, so it can't charge a company with the cleanup.

"That's what is frustrating for these people. I agree with them, something should be done quickly," Headley said.

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