Articles by Sue Sturgis
Sue Sturgis is the editorial director of Facing South, the online magazine of the nonprofit Institute for Southern Studies in Durham, N.C.
All Articles
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When recycling goes bad
A coal ash fill under construction at the site of a former Coca-Cola plant in Weldon, N.C.Photo: N.C. Division of Waste ManagementA special Facing South investigation. After coal is burned at power plants, leaving massive heaps of ash, not all of the waste ends up in landfills and impoundments like the one that failed catastrophically […]
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Big energy vs. coal ash regulation
A special Facing South investigation. At her January 2009 confirmation hearing, Lisa Jackson promised to take action on coal ash.Photo: Senate Enviroment and Public Works CommitteeWhen the catastrophic coal ash spill occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant in 2008, a quiet debate over how to regulate coal ash had already been going on […]
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Disaster in east Tennessee
The coal ash that spilled from a failed impoundment at TVA’s Kingston plant in eastern Tennessee filled the Emory River, creating huge mounds of toxic waste that locals called ashbergs.Photo: Sarah McCoinA special Facing South investigation. Shortly before 1 a.m. on Dec. 22, 2008, a dike holding back an 84-acre pond of wet coal ash […]
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Coal’s dirty secret
The December 2008 impoundment failure at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant inundated a nearby community with toxic coal ash.Photo: United Mountain DefenseA special Facing South investigation. When a billion gallons of coal ash broke loose from a holding pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston power plant near Harriman, Tenn. in December 2008, registered […]
