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.
Latest News
EPA Rolls Back Coal Ash Protections
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established new rules for the disposal and storage of toxic coal ash, replacing environmental safeguards put forth by the Obama Administration.
Empowering citizens at the Water Justice Summit
The recent Water Justice Summit in Blacksburg, Va., brought together citizens from Central Appalachia whose water is imperiled by coal mining, fracked gas pipelines and other industrial threats to strategize, learn skills and build affinity.
Environmental Protection Agency Aims to Deregulate Coal Ash
The Trump administration’s proposal to roll back federal coal ash safeguards gives more leeway to states — and advocates worry that would put drinking water at risk.
Citizens boycott N.C. coal ash meeting
Greensboro, N.C. — Members of a statewide coalition…
Federal and N.C. coal ash rules under attack
As the state reviews changes to coal ash policy, EPA head Scott Pruitt is looking to help utilities’ bottom line by dramatically weakening federal safeguards on the toxic substance.
EPA Proposes Major Changes to Federal Coal Ash Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed rolling back federal regulations on how utilities store coal ash, a toxic byproduct from coal-fired power plants.
