Atlantic Coast Pipeline Proposal Advances

Duke Energy, Dominion Resources and other partners are teaming up to build a 550-mile pipeline to better access natural gas produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, where fracking has proliferated in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

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Seleni-what?

Illustration by Jack Rooney

Most people have probably never heard of selenium, but for coal operators and fish it’s a big deal. Appalachian Voices’ water quality expert takes a moment to explain the issues surrounding this mineral — necessary in small amounts but toxic to aquatic life even at very low levels — and the EPA’s controversial attempts to regulate it.

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The Energy Report Round-Up

By Brian Sewell Dan River Coal Ash Cleanup “Complete” After removing approximately six percent of the coal ash it spilled into the Dan River in February, Duke Energy announced it has “completed cleanup efforts” to remove coal ash from the river in North Carolina and Virginia. The Dan River Basin Association, a local group working…

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North Carolina Coal Ash Bill Pending

By Brian Sewell On July 14, the N.C. Senate voted unanimously to reject the state House’s revised version of the Coal Ash Management Plan, which weakened the cleanup requirements in the Senate’s original bill. Now, a committee with members of both chambers must craft a compromise bill. Sen. Tom Apodaca, who sponsored the Senate bill,…

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Anna Behnke: A Seventh Grade Activist

By Sarah Kellogg Seventh grader Anna Behnke loves to swim in Mountain Island Lake, but two years ago, she learned about the water pollution caused by Duke Energy’s Riverbend coal-fired power plant and began to worry about the impact the pollution could have on children’s health. So, for a sixth grade science project, Behnke tested…

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Investigation Finds Fraud in Black Lung Cases

By Kimber Ray A year-long investigation revealed evidence this fall that the coal industry has supported fraudulent practices in order to block workers’ compensation claims for black lung disease. According to the investigation conducted by The Center for Public Integrity and ABC News, it appears that officials at prestigious medical institutions including Johns Hopkins Hospital…

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N.C. Citizens Speak Up About Power Plant Water Pollution

By Sarah Kellogg Four out of five power plants currently have no limits on the levels of heavy metals they can dump into rivers and lakes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, is preparing to change that, and in the process they are hearing from impacted citizens around the country. Since June, more than 165,000…

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Power to the People

By Molly Moore It’s no coincidence that the words “electricity” and “power” can be used interchangeably. Our society owes a huge debt to electricity — it’s often easier to recount the aspects of our lives that are connected to an outlet than not. But instead of controlling our energy use, we’ve let our addiction to…

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Coal Report

Impoundment Safety Called Into Question Questions and criticism followed a Nov. 30 accident at a CONSOL Energy-operated coal slurry impoundment in West Virginia that left one worker dead. A few days after the incident, The Charleston Gazette reported that records “outlined company concerns that construction to enlarge the dump had not been moving fast enough…

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