The danger of coal ash, the toxic dust the fossil fuel leaves behind
Science Aug 14, 2019 06:40 PM EDT
By — Miles O'Brien



Coal ash is a particularly dangerous byproduct of our dependence on fossil fuels. In communities that have dealt with coal ash spills, the incidents sparked concerns about toxins potentially seeping into water. Utilities have been pushed to adopt tougher safety standards -- but activists say the companies are resisting rules necessary for public health. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.

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Amna Nawaz:

Coal ash is an especially bad and dangerous byproduct of our dependence on coal and fossil fuels. Now over the years, a number of communities have dealt with coal ash spills that have turned into emergencies with real public health concerns over what's seeped into the water. In some places, utilities have been pushed to adopt tougher standards.

But as Miles O'Brien reports, some residents and activists say the power companies are fighting changes that could help protect public health. It's part of our regular segment on the "Leading Edge" of science and technology.

Miles O'Brien:

This is the well water?

Laura Tench:

This is the well water.

Miles O'Brien:

This is 2015.

At the kitchen table in her home of 41 years near Charlotte, Laura Tench showed me the official notice that rocked her world in 2015.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health recommends that your well water not be used for drinking and cooking. What's it like when you got a notice like that?

Laura Tench:

Scary. You don't want to turn on the spigot.

Miles O'Brien:

Her well water was more like a witches' brew– among the frightening ingredients: cancer causers, hexavalent chromium, ten times the state safety threshold, and vanadium, almost 30 times the standard.

She and her family had no choice, forced to rely solely on bottled water for nearly three years.

Laura Tench:

I would not allow my children to take a tub bath. They had to take a quick shower, no luxury.

Miles O'Brien:

They didn't have to look far to find the suspected source of the contamination: the 62-year-old Allen Steam Station coal fired power plant. It sits right next to the neighborhood, and right in the middle of a raging national debate over what to do about the toxic remnants left behind after the coal is burned.

What's leftover is ash, and in addition to hexavalent chromium, it contains arsenic, mercury, thallium, selenium, lead and more.

There are 16 million tons of coal ash here at Allen.

Duke Energy spokesperson Erin Culbert gave me a tour.

What are we seeing here? What's all around us?

Erin Culbert:

Well, really as far as the eye can see in all these directions, we're looking at coal ash.