The production of electricity creates solid and hazardous waste that we work to manage responsibly. Our largest waste stream is from coal ash; we operate 14 landfills, 44 ash ponds and 10 other impoundments at 22 power plants and provide approximately 40 percent of coal ash for beneficial use each year. These beneficial uses avoid the need for more landfill space and also provide revenue for the company. In 2010, we received $10.8 million from the sale of coal combustion residuals and avoided another $18.3 million in disposal costs.

We continue to reduce the amount of PCB-containing equipment in the AEP system. PCBs have not been used in new equipment for more than 30 years, but are still present in some of our older equipment. In 2010 we removed and recycled approximately 32,800 pieces of electrical equipment. Of that, 1,790 (approximately 5.5 percent), and fewer than 0.5 percent of the transformers, were found to contain greater than 500 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs. Only about 3 percent of 1,576 transmission and distribution electrical equipment spills involved oil that contained 50 ppm or greater PCBs, and all were cleaned up properly.

Read more online about emission reductions, water availability and usage, biodiversity, avian protection and working with our suppliers online at www.AEPsustainability.com.

The EPA continues its efforts to shape a rule that may mandate the phase-out of all PCB-containing equipment. This would be very costly because of the sheer volume of equipment, such as transformers, that would be affected and the cost associated with replacement, which is difficult to estimate at this time.

In 2010, we disposed of more than 7 million pounds of hazardous waste. This is an unusually large volume of hazardous waste for AEP and this total includes 5.5 million pounds of process water from the carbon capture and storage validation facility at the Mountaineer Plant in West Virginia, which contained less than 25 total pounds of selenium. It also includes 1.4 million pounds of boiler cleaning wastes from Flint Creek Plant in Arkansas.

We have an active recycling program at all of our facilities. In 2010 we recycled close to 2 million pounds of paper, 77 million pounds of metal, nearly 215,000 light bulbs, more than 480,000 pounds of batteries and approximately 1.1 million gallons of oil. We also recycled or reused approximately 192,000 pounds of electronic equipment, such as computers and phones, keeping it out of landfills.

We have a recycling program on our river vessels called SEE Green. In 2010, our Gulf operations and vessel line boats estimates more than 84 tons of waste was recycled, ranging from cardboard boxes, plastic and miscellaneous lines, dramatically reducing landfill costs and associated environmental impacts. Our efforts continue to be industry-leading as our peers on the river have looked to AEP River Operations for guidance in kicking off their own recycling efforts. We expect to expand our own efforts in 2011.

A conveyor transports gypsum from AEP’s Mitchell Plant to a nearby CertainTeed Corp. facility where it is used to make wallboard.