Coal Ash Toxicity Known Since 1970s, But Inaction The Only Action In NC After TVA Disaster

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The first alarms about coal ash came during the 1970s from biological researchers studying its lethal effects on fish populations. Intriguingly, a Duke plant just 35 miles from the Dan River spill was one of the birthplaces of this science. “North Carolina presents an extreme irony with respect to coal ash disposal and the associated wastewater impact on fish,” Wake Forest University biologist Dennis Lemly wrote in a recent scientific paper. Lemly helped pioneer the science of coal ash lethality nearly 40 years ago at the Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County. Indiscriminate discharges of ash-contaminated wastewater from the coal-fired Belews plant killed 19 of 20 fish species in the nearby lake, Lemly and other researchers found back then.

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State Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro reacted to the TVA crisis in Kingston by spotting trouble ahead for North Carolina if the state didn’t step up its ash pond monitoring. She came up with a plan in 2009 to wrest supervision of North Carolina’s ash ponds from the N.C. Utilities Commission, which she said “just wasn’t equipped” to regulate them aggressively enough.

Known for her acumen in environmental matters, Harrison, a Democrat, put together a bill that would move ash pond supervision from the overburdened commission to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which had more dam-safety knowledge and resources.

The proposal instructed the DENR to prepare a plan for closing all the ash ponds and for disposing of their contaminated contents in a safe way. But industry executives balked, and Harrison said it was like she was speaking a foreign language to fellow legislators: “I couldn’t get any traction.”

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http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_5140b56a-bd1f-11e3-9ae5-0017a43b2370.html

[phantom power]

1. Silly Democrats, corporations regulate themselves voluntarily.