Coal Ash | Grist

Child Labor, Coal Ash, Coal Slurry

Big Coal and child victims 0
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago Nov. 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Mine Disaster in Illinois, when an estimated 259 coal miners lost their lives to fire and the buildup of "black damp" or toxic gases. While we take time to reflect on the heroic sacrifices of coal miners and their families this week, the Cherry Mine Disaster remains a haunting reminder of the secret legacy of child labor in our coal mines -- and its unconscionable use today.
Lawsuit accuses Virginia power company of poisoning Dominican community with toxic coal ash 0
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago A civil lawsuit in state court in Delaware charges AES Corp. -- one of the world's largest power companies -- with illegally dumping 160 million pounds of toxic coal ash waste onto beaches in the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic, leading to serious health problems for nearby residents.
tallying toxic threats

Congressional watchdog issues update on coal ash regulation efforts 0
Posted 2 weeks, 3 days ago The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency still does not know the exact number of coal ash dumps at the nation's power plants, but it's moving ahead with plans to regulate them.
The risky plan to dump coal ash in an old Tennessee mine 0
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago A company is pushing a plan to use dry coal ash from the Kingston plant to fill an abandoned coal mine in Tennessee -- but environmentalists are raising concerns about the proposal's health risks.
EPA revamping rules for toxic releases from coal plants 0
Posted 2 months ago
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that it plans to revise the existing standards for wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants. The news came one day after three environmental groups announced they intend to sue the agency for failing to properly regulate such discharges.
Double the trouble

EPA reveals almost twice as many dangerous coal ash dumps as previously known 1
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released information showing there are 584 coal ash dump sites across the country -- almost twice as many as previously identified.
ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Study details health risks from TVA’s spilled coal ash 0
Posted 2 months, 4 weeks ago
Exposure to dust and river sediment in the area of the massive coal ash spill from the TVA's Kingston power plant could present a health risk to local communities, found a new study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
ashes to ashes

Crackdown on coal ash 0
Posted 4 months ago
The crazy quilt of regulations governing coal ash disposal across the United States got a new patch this week when North Carolina lawmakers passed a law requiring stricter regulation of coal ash impoundments.
A Burning Concern

North Carolina governor calls for better regulation of coal ash dumps 0
Posted 4 months ago
North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue (D) has endorsed legislation that would increase oversight of the state's coal ash dumps, the massive surface impoundments that power companies use to store the toxic waste left over after burning coal.
alabama's ashhole?

Decision to dump TVA’s spilled coal waste in Alabama community sparks resistance 0
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
The EPA approved a plan last week to dump 3 million tons of coal ash that spilled from a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in eastern Tennessee in an impoverished, largely African-American community in Alabama.
You'll be sorry, Ms. Jackson

Rural county asks EPA chief not to make it ‘The Ash Hole of Alabama’ 2
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
The residents of Perry County in central Alabama are none too excited about the prospect of their home becoming "The New Ash Hole of Alabama."
smoke in the water

Coal ash contamination imperils July 4 festival goers in Tennessee 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Poverty near the “high hazard” coal ash sites 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
The public's right-to-know scored a victory this week when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally released the list of the 44 coal ash sites deemed "high hazard." This comes two weeks after a coalition of organizations including the Sierra Club filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding the release of the list.

Since then we've been crunching some numbers to learn more this list of coal ash storage sites.
Slip Slidin' Away

Was the Tennessee coal ash disaster really a once-in-a-lifetime event? 0
Posted 4 months, 4 weeks ago
A new report from an engineering firm hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority identified factors behind last year's disaster that unleashed more than a billion of gallons of toxic ash from a massive storage pond at the federal company's Kingston plant. It claims that the disaster was a one-of-a-kind event -- but skeptical coal ash watchdogs are calling for a more thorough investigation by federal authorities.
Murder by breath

Goodbye to Cancer Valley: In remembrance of my friend John Soley 0
Posted 5 months ago
After a long struggle with cancer, my friend Mr. John Soley died at his home in Carbon County, Pa. on Saturday, June 20. He was only 62, which is too young to die of natural causes. But then, neither John nor I believe he got sick from natural causes. We believe he and many of his neighbors were poisoned by pollution, and that the perpetrators should be held to account.
Coal ash sites kept secret, while industry works to prevent regulations 1
Posted 5 months ago
If you lived near a dump site where the hazardous waste was so toxic it could increase your cancer risk to as high as a staggering 1 in 50, wouldn't you want to know about it? What if there was one near your child's school, but you had no way of knowing about it because the list of the most dangerous sites was being kept secret? Well, it turns out there are dozens of such sites across the nation, and our government is refusing to tell us where they are.
Audit finds Tennessee Valley Authority misled on ash spill disaster 0
Posted 5 months ago
The Tennessee Valley Authority's Inspector General released a critical audit this week on the federal company's response to last December's massive ash spill disaster at its Kingston power plant in eastern Tennessee's Roane County. The incident involved a failure in a coal ash containment pond that released more than a billion gallons of toxic waste into a nearby community and river.
Black Tide

Must-read new story on the Tennessee coal ash disaster and the myth of “clean coal” 4
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
A blockbuster story in the new GQ takes a comprehensive look at the Tenn. coal ash disaster of last December and the mockery it makes of "clean coal." An early contender for Year's Best Journalism.
Dirty South

Climate Central takes on Georgia, coal, and carbon 0
Posted 6 months ago
This week brought a new piece of journalism from the crack staff of scientists and reporters at Climate Central. It's called "Georgia: Coal and Carbon."
Coal Ash Dumped on the Disadvantaged 0
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago