From the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy:
Last week brought a lot of news about coal ash in national media, some good, some bad. On one side we learned of new information from EPA to add to the growing mountain of evidence about the risks of unregulated coal ash (that’s bad). On the other side we pulled out a narrow victory in Washington, DC, by keeping dangerous coal ash language out of the federal Transportation Bill (phew, that’s good!).
On June 27th the Environmental Protection Agency released new data on the number of coal ash dumps across the country. Prior to this release, EPA reported a total of just over 1,000 ash dumps (both ponds and landfills), a staggering number considering the danger that these dumps pose. We thought that number was high, but with this new information we now know the more accurate total is closer to 1,554 dumps, with around 400 located in the Southeast!
This new tally is an increase of more than 50% but there are even more unreported sites and disappearances of coal ash out there. Industries are refusing to identify all their dumps claiming “confidential business information”. Likewise, a government report from 2011 highlighted the particular problem where industries are “recycling” 70 million tons of coal ash by using it in roadbeds, golf courses, and other hidden places where we may never be able to find it or know it’s true health and environmental impact over time.
Read more HERE.