The Environmental Journal of Southern Appalachia

Displaying items by tag: dan river coal ash spill

Friday, 04 November 2022 17:00

Still no reckoning for coal-ash polluters

1024px Kingston plant spill swanpond tn2A TVA ash pond at Watts Bar ruptured with disastrous consequences in December 2008.  Wikipedia 

Report contends coal plant operators are shirking responsibilities on ash cleanup

This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout

NASHVILLE — In the wake of major coal ash spills from power plant containment ponds in Tennessee and into the Dan River along the North Carolina and Virginia border, the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2015 laid out the first federal rules for managing the ash, one of the nation’s largest waste streams, and the toxins it contains.  

But more than seven years later, few utilities and other owners responsible for the often unlined pits where billions of tons of ash leach heavy metals and other toxins into groundwater are planning comprehensive cleanups, per a report released this month by a pair of environmental groups. 

Published in News