News Tagged ‘coal ash ponds

Southern California communities march for safer alternatives to coal-burning

Southern California community members worried about the ill effects from coal-burning mines and power plants are conducting a 100-day national campaign uniting 100 communities in the area urging lawmakers to phase out of coal-based energy and transition to cleaner, renewable sources that would produce more green jobs, according to the Palm Springs (California) My Desert.

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Obama administration vows to propose regulations for coal ash

epa 150x150 Obama administration vows to propose regulations for coal ashThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promised to make good on a promise it made nine years ago to issue regulations for coal ash storage. The announcement comes more than two months after a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) impoundment pond failed and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash on to 300 acres of east Tennessee property, destroying homes and damaging land in its wake.

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TVA releases details of coal ash spill cleanup plan

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) this week released to state regulators its plan to clean up the mess it left behind when its Kingston, Tennessee, plant dumped 1.1 billion gallons of toxic mess in east Tennessee last December. The plan outlines a detailed disposal plan that includes turning the Kingston coal ash ponds into dry ash storage and capping the existing pond, to “limit chances of another ash pond leak,”according to the Times Free Press.

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Coal ash byproducts used in building supplies making people sick

Florida homeowners have filed a class action suit against the manufacturers of a Chinese drywall company for using toxic fly ash in materials used to construct their homes. The fly ash was reportedly purchased from a Chinese power plant and used to make the drywall.

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Officials in other states review safety of coal ash plants

Coal ash ponds similar to the one at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant in Kingston, Tennessee that failed and poured more than a billion gallons of toxic material on to east Tennessee property, are located all across the country, which has some people asking, “Can a coal ash spill happen here?” according to the Gillette News Record.

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TVA calls coal ash spill disaster a ‘catastrophe’

Nearly two months after a coal ash pond in Kingston, Tennessee, failed and poured 1.1 billion gallons of toxic material onto 300 acres of a rural east Tennessee community, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) finally admits it wishes it could have handled its responses differently, the Associated Press reported.

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Congressional committee considers regulating coal ash ponds, landfills

December’s devastating coal ash spill that dumped 1.1 billion pounds of toxic material on to an east Tennessee neighborhood and into Emory River has prompted some people to question why coal ash ponds and landfills are not more heavily regulated by the federal government, according to iStockAnalyst. Last week, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing to address a proposed bill that would set uniform design, engineering and inspection standards of impoundment ponds such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) failed pond that caused the massive spill.

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Will customers have to pay for TVA’s coal ash disaster?

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may turn to its residential customer base to help pay for the escalating costs to clean up the widespread damage caused when one of its coal ash ponds failed last December, pouring more than a billion gallons of toxic ash and sludge onto 300 acres of rural east Tennessee, according to the Jackson Sun.

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Indianans worry about their coal ash impoundments

December’s Kingston, Tennessee, coal ash spill that dumped 1.1 billion pounds of toxic material on to 300 acres of rural east Tennessee property, destroying homes and damaging property in its wake, continues to raise concerns for those living near similar treatment plants in other states, especially Indiana, according to The Bloomington Alternative. Indiana stores more coal ash in manmade impoundments than any other state, which has locals worried what damage would be caused if one of its coal ash lagoons failed and dumped toxic material onto nearby land.

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Duke study of coal ash spill raises serious concerns

A team of scientists from Duke University has been testing the land and water in and around the massive coal ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee. Their results not only underscore the precarious nature of coal ash retaining ponds, but the potentially far-reaching and long-lasting impact such accidents have on the environment, wildlife, and human health.

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