To: Gwen Fleming Keyes, EPA Region 4 Administrator
Protect Our Water From Toxic Coal Waste
I am deeply concerned that coal ash ponds owned by Duke Energy are contaminating our waterways with heavy metals such as arsenic, boron, chromium, selenium and thallium through improper and dangerous storage of coal ash in huge ponds that dot the state.
We await long-overdue guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would provide minimum federal guidelines to clean up coal ash impoundments in North Carolina and across the country. We do not need another billion-gallon coal ash spill, such as the one that happened near Kingston, Tennessee almost four years ago.
We are asking that EPA take swift action to protect our communities from toxic coal ash. We have waited long enough.
We await long-overdue guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would provide minimum federal guidelines to clean up coal ash impoundments in North Carolina and across the country. We do not need another billion-gallon coal ash spill, such as the one that happened near Kingston, Tennessee almost four years ago.
We are asking that EPA take swift action to protect our communities from toxic coal ash. We have waited long enough.
Why is this important?
Coal ash is contaminating our rivers, lakes and drinking water supplies here in North Carolina. Coal ash contains a number of toxic heavy metals including arsenic, chromium and selenium, among many others, and is often stored near waterways in unlined impoundments. The state is aware of the pollution, but has yet to take action. We need the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue comprehensive rules on coal ash disposal.