Coal ash has been in the news for months. But, what do you really know about it? Learn more about the history of coal ash here in North Carolina below.

1) Here in North Carolina, we have eight steam stations that burn coal for electricity. Another six facilities used to burn coal but no longer do – yet their coal ash remains a part of our state’s landscape. What is coal ash? Coal ash is simply the leftover material created from coal-burning power plants. It is mixed with water and stored in ponds.

2) Who oversees coal ash regulations in North Carolina? This responsibility falls to the Division of Water Resources (DWR) within the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR). DWR is tasked with monitoring wastewater discharged from coal ash ponds, regulating coal ash recycling, stormwater management, and shares responsibility for regulating coal combustion residuals with the Division of Waste Management.

3) Currently, Duke Energy has 33 coal ash ponds at 14 sites in North Carolina, containing more than 100 million tons of waste. Until 2006, there was no groundwater monitoring program in place for the coal ash ponds. A voluntary program started in 2006, and starting in 2010, the DWR directed the energy companies to add monitoring wells per state requirements.

4) Coal ash contains arsenic, lead, mercury, and selenium, as well as aluminum, barium, boron, and chlorine. As you might guess, these chemicals are not so great for people or the environment. In fact, the EPA’s risk assessment in 2010 found that cancer risk from drinking water contaminated with arsenic from coal ash disposed in unlined ponds is as higher as 1 in 50 adults, which is 2,000 times EPA’s regulatory goal for acceptable cancer risk.

5) Some types of coal ash known as “fly ash” can be recycled and used in construction operations. While there are claims that more than 40 percent of coal ash is currently safely recycled, there is debate on what “safely recycled” means. Some recycling efforts have led to environmental hazards, including where ash used in fill and road projects led to contaminated drinking water with lead, arsenic and other toxic chemicals ended up creating a Superfund site in Indiana.

6) In North Carolina, there are more than 70 private ash sites holding approximately 11 million cubic yards of ash to be used in construction projects such as building roads or parking lots. But, “nearly a quarter of the waste sits at six of the largest sites, where about 2.6 million cubic yards of coal ash lies in unlined pits, largely unmonitored for potential groundwater contamination.” NC DENR cited violations at these sites for creating dust clouds, for being placed too close to water sources, and even at one site, ash was dumped into a wetland area.

7) Based on a 2010 report, North Carolina ranked 9th in the United States in coal ash generation. Each year, our state products more than 5.5 million tons.

8) The February 2nd spill at the Dan River was not North Carolina’s first foray into environmental disasters involving coal ash ponds. In our state’s history, we have had 13 documented cases of water contamination. This has included levels of lead, iron, and other minerals exceeding both NC and federal drinking water standards; arsenic values measured as high as 44 times the federal drinking water standard; and elimination of 16 fish species at Belews Lake because of selenium contamination, including all the primary sport fish.

9) None of our state’s ponds have a composite liner, and only four ponds have any liners. And, these ponds are no spring chickens: <a “=”” href=”http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/nc-coal-ash-factsheet-1112.pdf”>17 ponds are over 40 years old, and 10 are over 30 years old.

10) NC DENR rated 29 ponds as “high hazard” with two ponds receiving an “intermediate hazard” designation. What does a high hazard rating mean? According to NC DENR”S dam Safety Engineering Division Dam hazards Classification, a pond deemed a high hazard that fails will probably cause a loss of human life in addition to economic loss, environmental damage, and damage to infrastructure.

Photo from Peoria Public Radio