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
N.C. coal plant neighbors ask: “At what cost?”
Near the beginning of our new video, Stokes County, N.C., resident Annie Brown says, “I love to turn the switch on and have my lights just like anyone else, but at what cost?” It’s a question we should all ask of ourselves. But we also must direct our elected officials and electric providers to consider the question: at what cost do our outdated energy policies and practices come?
Concerned neighbors of N.C. coal plant speak out
Contact: Kara Dodson, Field Coordinator, 828-262-1500, kara@appvoices.org Cat…
The River City is set to soak up the sun
Solar energy is no longer a thing of the future — it makes sense right here, right now. That’s the spirit of Virginia’s newest residential renewable energy initiative, SolarizeRVA, which was launched on Tuesday in celebration of Earth Day.
Mercury No More: Court Upholds EPA Air Toxics Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — but also public health advocates and anyone who likes to eat fish or breath clean air — gained a significant win this month when a federal appeals court upheld the agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).
Surprised? McCrory’s Coal Ash Proposal Falls Short
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s poorly planned coal ash proposal is catching flak from environmental groups and legislators in his own party who already planned to push for reform during the upcoming legislative session.
Counteracting Coal’s Dirty Tricks
Last month, we acted quickly to undermine H.R. 2824, a pro-mountaintop removal bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. While we never expected to prevent the bill from passing the anti-environmental House, our efforts helped to make the perils of mountaintop removal the message of the day.
