On behalf of the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, SELC filed suit to stop contamination of the Wateree River, nearby groundwater, and wetlands by coal ash lagoons of South Carolina Electric and Gas Company in southern Richland County, South Carolina.
Read the press release>> Learn more about this case »Local groups today filed a motion to intervene in the court case over Colleton County’s denial of a special exception for South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. to dump large quantities of coal ash waste from its coal-fired power plant on a 1,700 acre site within the county using dump trucks that would travel through local communities. More details are in the press release.
The announcement came in May 2010 after months of delay and misleading statements by the power and coal industries and nearly 18 months after a billion gallons of toxic coal ash burst through a dam near a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Kingston, Tenn.
EPA proposed two options to regulate coal ash: a plan to classify coal ash as hazardous waste and another to regulate it as non-hazardous. The difference between the two is stark, and environmental groups are hopeful that the agency will make the right decision and finalize strong, federally enforceable coal ash safeguards that use the strongest limits of the law to protect the communities living near coal ash sites. Read the press release
EPA’s recent finding that North Carolina has the most coal combustion waste sites posing a high-hazard to the public—12 of the 44 sites nationwide—requires immediate action by leaders at the federal, state and local levels to protect residents, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center. With human lives at stake, inspection and abatement of the hazards should be undertaken, and no exacerbation of the current risks should be allowed. View the map showing the sites and more details.