Cleaning Up Coal Ash
For well over a century, power plants across the country have burned coal to generate electricity. And for just as long, leftover coal ash has been dumped in open, unlined pits near the power plant, usually located on a river or lake. Every year, U.S. power plants produce 130 million tons of coal ash, which is the second largest waste stream in the country after municipal garbage.
Coal ash concentrates the toxic heavy metals found in coal, including arsenic, mercury, lead and selenium. Stored in unlined, wet impoundments, coal ash has been leaking these toxics into our groundwater and surface waters for years. Sometimes these impoundments collapse — with disastrous results.
Yet government regulations for coal ash management are either non-existent or sparse, and there is little enforcement of the regulations that do exist. In North Carolina, this lack of oversight — and the complicity between state regulators, elected officials and Duke Energy — came to a boiling point in February 2014 when one of Duke’s coal ash impoundments spilled 39 million tons of ash into the Dan River.
Citizens living near North Carolina’s 33 coal ash impoundments — all of which have leaked — have fought for transparency from Duke and the state, and for cleanup of the pollution that threatens their property value, health and family. Their actions forced this issue into the headlines of news networks and to the forefront of environmental justice conversations in the United States.
Appalachian Voices stood with these communities as we worked for years to compel Duke Energy and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality to excavate coal ash from all the North Carolina sites and dispose of it either in lined, dry landfills, away from waterways, or by recycling it for concrete or other uses, provided it’s done in a manner that protects public health and the environment.
On Jan. 2, 2020, North Carolina announced a historic settlement with one of the state’s most powerful corporations and polluters, Duke Energy. The settlement requires Duke to move nearly 80 million tons of toxic coal ash at six of its power plants to properly lined landfills onsite or recycle it.
![se_coalash_graphic Learn information about specific coal ash impoundments in the South, including health threats and safety ratings on <a href="https://www.southeastcoalash.org/">Southeastcoalash.org</a>](https://appvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/se_coalash_graphic.jpg)
Learn information about specific coal ash impoundments in the South, including health threats and safety ratings:
Additional Resources
Fact sheets, videos, links to academic research, and more
Sign Up to Act
Help us protect the health of our communities and waterways.
Latest News
Deal Reached Over Seeping Coal Ash Ponds in NC
Duke Energy agreed to pay for multiple leakages from coal ash impoundments at three of its power plants.
FERC Rejects Coal, Nuclear Subsidies
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously voted to reject U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s plan to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants.
Coal Mine Deaths Rise in 2017, Agency to Reconsider Black Lung Rule
Coal mining fatalities are nearly double what they were last year, and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration announced it would revisit a rule intended to protect miners from black lung disease.
Debate Over ATV Access to West Virginia Wildlife Areas
A West Virginia hunting association hopes to change current state rules regarding the use of all-terrain vehicles in wildlife management areas.
Meadows Development in Abingdon Breaks Ground
Preliminary construction on a commercial center and public sports complex at a historic site in Abingdon, Va., began in January despite local opposition.
Battery Company to Invest in Kentucky
Power technology manufacturer EnerBlu announced plans to open a $372 million battery manufacturing plant on a reclaimed surface mine in Pikeville, Ky., and move its headquarters to Lexington, Ky.