Judicial Watch: Conservation Groups Demand Coal Ash Maps
Facing the threat of legal action, Duke Energy announced on Friday that it would release previously secret maps showing areas at highest risk if any of its coal ash pit dams fail.
Earlier in the week, eight citizen conservation groups announced their intent to sue Duke Energy for information it is withholding from the public, on what areas would be threatened by failure of the dams holding back coal ash pits at its facilities around North Carolina.
In a news release announcing their intention to sue, the groups’ attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) said, “Duke Energy is scared of the public reaction when people learn how much of their communities will be devastated by coal ash and toxic water pollution if Duke Energy’s dangerous coal ash storage sites fail. North Carolina’s communities near Duke Energy’s coal ash sites deserve better than this.”
Environmental groups are not the only ones who had tried and failed to see the secret maps which lay out who among the public and our resources are most at risk from coal ash dam failure. Reporters have been equally frustrated, reports environmental reporter Lisa Sorg.
We will all be watching now to see whether Duke follows through by swiftly releasing the requested information. If not, litigation will result.
