Earthjustice
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Mountaintop-removal mining is unpopular even in coal country
A strong majority of Appalachians oppose mountaintop-removal coal mining -- 57 percent -- according to a new poll conducted in the region.
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EPA puts off long-promised coal ash protections
(This post originally appeared at Facing South.) Communities imperiled by poorly managed coal ash won’t be getting help from the federal government any time soon. The Obama administration announced last week that it would not issue long-awaited federal regulations this year after all. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson shared the news in a March […]
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Hexavalent chromium pollution linked to coal ash disposal
The landmark $333 million court settlement that propelled legal researcher Erin Brockovich to environmental stardom involved the contamination of a California town’s groundwater with hexavalent chromium, a toxic compound known to cause cancer. Now the same dangerous heavy metal, usually associated with steel manufacturing and metal plating, has been discovered seeping from coal ash disposal […]
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Toxic Coal Ash Threatens At Least 137 Sites In 34 States
A new study by three top environmental groups reveals another 39 coal ash threats in 21 states, bringing the total number of known coal ash threats to 137 in 34 states. The report by the Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, and the Sierra Club details the newly identified slurry ponds and impoundments filled with toxic coal ash […]
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How green are Obama’s potential Supreme Court picks?
Update: Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan hasn’t said much about her environmental views, but she has a solid record of supporting climate law. Here’s the full story on her green cred. President Barack Obama is reportedly considering about 10 people to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, although popular consensus has quickly […]
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New cases of water pollution documented at U.S. coal ash dumps
Environmental groups have identified serious water contamination problems caused by coal ash dumps at 31 locations in 14 states, bringing to over 100 the number of U.S. sites where damages from coal ash have been confirmed — and strengthening the case for the release of delayed federal regulations. The latest coal ash damage cases are […]
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Are utilities’ plans for shoring up hazardous coal ash dams good enough?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released action plans submitted by 22 coal-fired power plants to improve the safety of the massive dammed surface impoundments where they store toxic coal ash, but environmental advocates question whether the plans do enough to protect the public from disaster. That’s because in the absence of federal regulations treating […]
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The risky plan to dump coal ash in an old Tennessee mine
Since a dam burst at its Kingston coal-fired power plant last December and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash sludge into a nearby community and river, the federal Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has decided to change the way it stores its coal waste, transitioning from wet landfills like the one that […]
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EPA reveals almost twice as many dangerous coal ash dumps as previously known
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released information showing there are 584 coal ash dump sites across the country — almost twice as many as previously identified. The facilities are located in 35 states and concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Midwest and Intermountain West. The release [PDF] came late last Friday in response to a […]