Pain in the Ash: Citizens in Virginia and North Carolina Seek Protection from Hazardous Coal Ash Waste

Power companies in North Carolina and Virginia are currently battling with their neighbors over the best method to store coal ash waste.

Coal ash, also referred to as coal combustion residuals, is the resulting waste following the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants. The ash is often disposed of in surface impoundments, landfills, and nearby waterways. When improperly disposed of, coal ash is hazardous to the surrounding environment, as it contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic. In the case of a coal ash …

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Water Alert — PFAs Detected in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River Raise Immediate Concerns Over Safety of Community’s Drinking Water Supply

On June 20, 2017, the Chemours Company announced that it will now “capture, remove, and safely dispose of wastewater that contains the byproduct GenX,” from North Carolina’s Cape Fear River — a main supply source for the City of Wilmington’s drinking water.

The announcement last week comes on the heels of reports that the EPA is investigating whether Chemours complied with a 2009 order issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that allowed DuPont (from which Chemours was spun-off) to produce GenX in its …

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