Coosa Riverkeeper and other environmental nonprofit groups have been fighting against Alabama utilities’ plans to “cap-in-place” their coal ash ponds- a decision that puts the health and well-being of Alabamians at risk.
This is certainly the case for communities located on the Coosa. The Gaston Steam located on Lay Lake has an open coal ash pit and the Gadsden Steam Plant on Neely Henry Lake has closed coal ash pit that is capped-in-place. Both of these plants are violating their permits by contaminating groundwater with highly toxic heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium.
Coal Ash isn’t just a problem in our watershed- it is a statewide issue. This is why we have partnered with Alabama Rivers Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Conservation Alabama, Mobile Baykeeper, and Southern Environmental Law Center to publish a website at AlabamaCoalAsh.com.
This website serves to comprehensibly educate the citizens of Alabama about the issues of coal ash. The website goes over coal ash broadly for those who are more interested in just getting the gist of the issue, but also goes into detail of each coal ash pit for those who enjoy “getting in the weeds.”
