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.
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
Layers of injustice: Community concerns ignored as federal regulators allow Mountain Valley Pipeline to begin operation
Community members have fought this pipeline for 10 years — pointing out its many flaws and dangers and winning court battles by proving developers and regulators were ignoring laws meant to protect communities and the environment. Now, those regulators allow the pipeline to go into service.
A week of action to stop zombie coal mines
This week, Appalachian Voices and 12 partner organizations are on Capitol Hill to tell Congress to protect our communities by making coal companies clean up their functionally abandoned coal mines, known as zombie mines.
North Carolina Utilities Commission public hearing to review Duke Energy’s plans for new gas plant in northern Person County
This Thursday, the North Carolina Utilities Commission will hold a public hearing to gather feedback on Duke Energy’s plans to build the first of two new methane gas power plants near its existing coal plant on Hyco Lake in Person County.
Federal government allows failing Mountain Valley Pipeline to go in-service
Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has allowed the Mountain Valley Pipeline to go in-service. This announcement arrives after a decade of community-led resistance to the pipeline project. MVP has doubled in cost and delayed completion for six years due to failures to comply with environmental protections and resulting legal challenges.
Seven Geological Wonders of Appalachia
The Appalachian Mountains are abundant with magnificent natural wonders. Here’s a sampling of stunning geological features within the region.
Statement by Appalachian Voices on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to place MVP in service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 10, 2024 CONTACT: Molly…
