Appalachian Voices helped release a new report by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice that identified 31 additional coal-ash contamination sites in 14 states with proven damage and pollution of groundwater, rivers, streams and/or wetlands. North Carolina leads the pack at six coal ash ponds that are leaking toxics into nearby waters. The report caused the Charlotte Observer to come out in favor of stronger state and federal standards for coal ash ponds.

The snippit below is from the Appalachian Voices’ Watauga Riverkeeper blog:

In hopes of encouraging the EPA to come out with overdue regulations on the handling of coal ash, EIP and Earth Justice with help from the Appalachian Voices Watauga Riverkeeper team released a report today illustrating the damages caused by 31 coal ash disposal sites across the country.

The report details 31 sites where major damage to surface water or groundwater has been documented. The pollution present in this waste is among the earth’s most harmful to aquatic life and humans – arsenic, lead, selenium, cadmium and other heavy metals, which cause cancer and crippling neurological damage. If these poisons can be kept out of the fish we eat, the water we drink, bathe in, and need to survive, simply through regulation, than we must take that long overdue step, not only for the sake of our public waters but for humanity’s sake as well.

Asheville Ash Pond and Nearby Homes

Coal Ash Moonscape at Belews Creek Steam Station

Read the rest of the blog post here.

This just in from the Waterkeeper Alliance:

In celebration of The Dirty Lie’s first birthday, Waterkeeper Alliance is hosting a contest to find the best short video telling the world that clean coal is nothing but a dirty lie. Be creative, we are looking for out-of-the-box submissions that showcase coal’s dirty lies and your talents! Potential topics include mountaintop removal coal mining, coal ash, or climate change.

Finalists will be featured at thedirtylie.com, gaining exposure to a global audience. The winner will be chosen by a panel of five celebrity judges, and will walk away with a cool $5,000.00.

How to Enter:

1. Post your video to your YouTube channel no later than 12 pm EST on April 30, 2010
2. Email the link to your submission and the following information to thedirtyliecontest@gmail.com by 12 pm EST on April 30, 2010.
   • Name
   • Phone number
   • Address
   • YouTube link
   • Release form
   • How you found out about The Dirty Lie Video Contest

** The contest is open to individuals only. Staff of Waterkeeper Alliance or any of their member programs are welcome to apply, but not eligible for the $5,000 grand prize.

Martin County Kentucky is no stranger to the dangers posed by coal slurry dams. In 2000, a slurry dam broke inundating two forks of the Tug River with over 300 million gallons of toxic sludge. This spill as thirty times the size of the Exxon Valdez Spill, and was called one of the worst environmental disasters to occur in the Southeast by the EPA.

Early Tuesday morning, Martin County Coal Company reported to the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection that a spill had occurred in Coldwater Creek. An unknown amount of slurry has leached into the creek, and clean up crews are working to contain the spill. Water levels have not risen, but Martin County resident Mickey McCoy said ” we just got a mainline injection of toxic heavy metals into our creek”.

Martin County Kentucky is no stranger to the dangers posed by coal slurry dams. In 2000, a slurry dam broke inundating two forks of the Tug River with over 300 million gallons of toxic sludge. This spill as thirty times the size of the Exxon Valdez Spill, and was called one of the worst environmental disasters to occur in the Southeast by the EPA.

Early Tuesday morning, Martin County Coal Company reported to the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection that a spill had occurred in Coldwater Creek. An unknown amount of slurry has leached into the creek, and clean up crews are working to contain the spill. Water levels have not risen, but Martin County resident Mickey McCoy said ” we just got a mainline injection of toxic heavy metals into our creek”.

Duke Energy has been ordered to take greater measures to test groundwater near coal ash ponds. The order comes from the North Carolina Division of Water Quality (NCDWQ) in the wake of an October report that found 13 ash ponds owned by Duke and Progress Energy to be leaking toxic waste.

Appalachian Voices’ Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby analyzed Duke’s self-reported data and found 681 instances in which heavy metals had accumulated around the ponds in levels exceeding North Carolina groundwater standards. Currently, the state itself does not test any ash ponds. Duke, in an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency, has the authority to self-monitor its ponds.

The new testing wells will be placed farther away from the ash ponds, hopeful providing more accurate information about the spread of the toxic materials.

A recent editorial from the Winston-Salem Journal said that if the new tests showed contamination, “the state should continue to order expanded testing to find just how wide a problem we have. And environmental groups are to be commended for paying to test surface waters on their own.”

The editorial continued, “The bottom line is that the state cannot blithely accept the word of the utilities on the potential danger here. The testing must be done, and the extent of the problem must be determined. Then the public will know better how to proceed with future coal-ash storage.”

The permits for four Duke Energy-owned ponds will expire this year. When they are renewed, NCDAQ will require new testing wells to be placed farther from the ash pond boundaries. These wells will allow the companies to see how far from the ponds groundwater is being contaminated.

Currently, the state issued permits for the ash ponds require testing within a 250-500 foot boundary of the pond. However, the permits set no limit for amounts of heavy metals found during these tests. The new wells will be placed closer to the edge of the testing boundary, hopeful providing more accurate information about the spread of the contaminants

Read the entire Winston-Salem Journal editorial here.

The first time I met Ben Sollee when he came to perform for us during our training in Washington DC at our Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington. There were close to 150 concerned citizens from California to the Carolinas, and many who were directly impacted by mountaintop removal. Armed only with his cello and soulful voice, Ben made many of us in the room cry with his awe-inspiring rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come”. It was definitely the highlight of the day.

So I am extremely excited to announce that Ben Sollee along with fellow Kentuckian, Daniel Martin Moore, will be donating their artist proceeds from their new album, Dear Companion, to Appalachian Voices in support our national campaign to end mountaintop removal mining. Ben Sollee says that “Appalachian Voices is doing all they can to catalyze the national conversation about mountaintop removal coal mining and we’re awfully proud to help contribute to their efforts.”

The album is a collaboration between Ben, Daniel, and producer/recording artist Yim Yames. Recorded in the first half of 2009 in Kentucky, the album explores the Appalachian home they love and aims to draw attention to the issue of mountaintop removal coal mining and its impact on the people and heritage of Central Appalachia.

Here is a review from the music blog, Consequence of Sound:

The album is folky and light, but it’s also got their shared spirit of altruism and activism thread throughout the record, specifically the impact of the Mountaintop Removal coal mining and its impact on the people and culture of Appalachia. The title track best represents the spirit of the album… While Martin’s voice, which is haunting and engaging as it moves through the beat as steady as a knife and as thin as a vapor, dominates the track, Sollee’s musicianship punctuates the track, creating much of the feel of the song and moving it along in a frantic pace unlike any other mountain jam you’ve ever heard without losing the emotional connection.

Appalachian Voices staff will be on hand for much of the tour to educate the audiences about mountaintop removal. We want to take this opportunity to thank Ben, Daniel, Yim and Sub Pop records for using the power of music to raise awareness about the threat that mountaintop removal poses to America’s beloved Appalachian mountains.

Listen online: Something, Somewhere, Sometime

Buy it: Your local music store, Amazon.com, or donate to Appalachian Voices to receive a free copy!

See Them Live: Tour Dates

About the Artists

Kentucky-native Ben Sollee performs a unique synthesis of folk, soul, jazz and bluegrass, choosing a cello rather than a guitar as his instrument. Sollee received critical praise for his 2008 debut album, Learning to Bend, and was chosen as one of NPR’s “Top 10 Unknown Artists of the Year.” Ben has been known to strap his cello on his back and ride his bike from one gig to the next, and has collaborated with numerous luminary musicians such as Otis Taylor and Bela Fleck.

Daniel Martin Moore is a singer and songwriter from Kentucky known for his deceptively simple, soft playing style which has been compared to Nick Drake and M. Ward. His first album, Stray Age, was released at the end of 2008 by Sub Pop Records and was produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, U2, The Shins).

Producer Yim Yames is a renowned guitarist/singer/songwriter from Monsters of Folk and My Morning Jacket.

On February 11, Virginia citizens convene at 4 p.m. to participate in a public hearing on the Stream Saver Bill (S. 564), before the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and National Resources Committee held in Richmond, Va. This is the first time ever Virginia has had a state bill to address mountaintop removal! The Stream Saver bill would stop the burial of headwater streams with strip mining spoil and curtail the destruction of the mountains.

Proponents of the bill are hosting a “A Rally for the Mountains” before the hearing at 3pm at Bell Tower on 101 N 9th St.

According to the Stream Saver Bill, introduced by Senator Patricia Ticer, “No spoil, refuse, silt, slurry, tailings, or other waste materials from coal surface mining and reclamation operations will be disposed of in any intermittent, perennial, or ephemeral stream.”

To learn more read Debra McCown’s article, “Virginia Lawmakers to Consider ‘Stream Saver’ Fill Ban.”
It is not just the waste that raises environmental and human concern over mountaintop removal mining, a practice deemed efficient by the coal industry–a practice that southwest Virginia is no stranger to, particularly in Wise County, Va.

“Environmental and community activists contend that this efficient method of extracting coal is just as efficient at wholesale destruction of the environment, the landscape and the communities,” said Debra McCown in her article, “Coal Mining Practices That Destroy, not Just the Land, but Entire Communities.”

What is left after mountaintop removal? In many cases a devastated landscape and community, as well as streams polluted by the practice.

“It’s not even about what you see; it’s about what you can’t see. The pollution in these headwater streams is the 900-pound gorilla here,” said Matt Wasson, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, in Debra McCown’s article “Is it possible to pick up the pieces and rebuild a mountain?”

As we search for energy solutions, “clean coal” may only serve to exacerbate the problems inflicted by mountaintop removal.

“The term clean coal ignores the consequences of coal mining, particularly the mining practices of mountaintop-removal coal mining,” said Glen Besa, Virginia director for the Sierra Club in Debra McCown’s article “Can the Myth of Clean Coal Become a Reality.” “There’s nothing clean about mountaintop-removal coal mining. It’s devastating.”
If you live in Virginia and can’t make it to the rally or public hearing, click here to write your state representative about Stream Saver Bill (S. 564).

The Appalachian Voices’ Waterkeeper Team Continues the Fight Against Water Pollution from Coal

The Appalachian Voices Watekeeper team began its journey into the dark abyss of coal ash and its toxic impact to waterways in December of 2008 when it started documenting the environmental harm caused by the TVA coal ash pond spill into the Emory River at Harriman, Tennessee. Since that time, the App Voices Waterkeeper team has released numerous reports, videos and calls to action to protect waterways from the contamination of coal ash:

• - Preliminary independent tests find high levels of toxic chemicals in Harriman TN fly ash deposits-January 1, 2009
  
• - Independent fish sampling results find high levels of toxic chemicals in Kingston, TN fly ash deposits and Emory River fish-May 18, 2009
  
• - All N.C. Coal Ash Ponds Contaminating Groundwater, Analysis Shows-October 6, 2009
  
• - Kingston Coal Plant Released 2.6 Million Pounds of Arsenic, Nine Other Pollutants into the Emory River in 2008-More than the Entire Water Pollution Output of All Other US Power Plants-December 8, 2009
  
• - Environmental Groups Ask EPA Enforcement Program to Increase State Oversight and Step Up Enforcement Against Coal Waste Impoundments

The hard work and relentless advocacy of our organization and our partners to ensure clean water and healthy fisheries is yielding results. Recently, NC announced it was requiring Duke Energy and Progress Energy to implement additional monitoring of heavy metals at is coal ash ponds in NC. The news was covered on WFAE and the Institute for Southern Studies: “North Carolina orders utilities to test groundwater near coal ash ponds.”

In the year since the App Voices Waterkeeper Team launched its assault on water pollution from dirty coal ash, our work has been reported by 60 Minutes, National Public Radio, New York Times, The Nation, the Associated Press, Reuters, the Institute for Southern Studies, the Charlotte Observer, the News & Record and many more.

We could not do this work without the generous support of our members, they make it possible for us to continue the all out assault on Dirty Coal’s contamination of water! Look for some exciting new information from us on Ash Wednesday (February 17, 2010)! In the meantime, here are some of our coal ash videos from last year:

Tags: appalachian voices, coal ash, fish, heavy metals, kingston coal ash spill, riverkeeper, selenium, tva, water pollution