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
Virginia must guard against Freedom Industries-type spill
University of Richmond law professor Noah Sachs recalls the W.Va. crisis last year, when some 300,000 people were left without clean tap water because of a major spill from chemical storage tanks. Guess what – Virginia essentially has no laws to regulate land-based storage of toxic chemicals near rivers. As Sachs has documented, dozens of businesses each storing more than 1 million pounds of toxic chemicals are located on major rivers, including the James, Shenandoah and Potomac.
Cheating shouldn’t pay
Appalachian Voices and our Kentucky partners scored a major victory when a judge, ruling on our case against a lawbreaking coal company, vigorously admonished state regulators for not enforcing the Clean Water Act. The state appealed, so as we head into 2015 it’s clear that our work throughout the Appalachian region is more important than ever.
Home Energy Contest Reveals Pressing Need in Western NC
Residents spend three times national average on energy…
Decent news for N.C. solar power
The N.C. Utilities Commission’s decision to renew a set of rules governing the contracts between electric utilities and independent power producers allows the state’s solar developers to begin the new year on steady footing.
To protect or prosecute polluters?
Kentucky regulators recently filed an administrative complaint against Frasure Creek Mining for hundreds of violations of the Clean Water Act. As we wait to see if the state is going to take its responsibility to protect the people and water of Kentucky from pollution seriously, Appalachian Voices will continue to do whatever we can to ensure that Frasure Creek and other polluters are held accountable.
Top five energy bills in Virginia (at the moment)
The Virginia General Assembly started last Wednesday, and the stage is set for an interesting couple of months while legislators tussle over a slew of energy bills–some good, and some very, very bad. Here’s the rundown…
