There’s an ironic juxtaposition of the old and new along Interstate 26 as you approach Asheville, said Bruce Nilles, the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign director. The Progress Energy plant burns coal day and night to provide power to consumers across Western North Carolina, while a short distance away, along I-40 a six-acre solar farm […]
Tag: coal-burning power plant
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Coal-ash dams in Buncombe potential hazard but sound
The Environmental Protection Agency lists two coal-ash-storage dams in Buncombe among similar high-hazard structures in North Carolina and the U.S. But there’s no indication the two dams — each about 90 feet high and located just off Interstate 26 near Arden — present an immediate danger.
EPA will oversee coal ash removal at Tennessee plant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will oversee the removal of coal ash at the TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant in Roane County, Tenn., where approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled last December. In related news, a coal-ash pond at an Asheville power plant is on a list of potentially dangerous storage ponds, according to a report released by two environmental groups.
The Green Scene
Elevated arsenic levels have been found in a preliminary sampling of water and sediment collected downstream from Progress Energy’s Skyland power plant and coal-ash pond. A water sample taken from an unnamed French Broad River tributary nearby contained arsenic at slightly above the permissible level for surface waters—and seven times higher than the U.S. Environmental […]
The Green Scene: Coal Ash — a pond farewell
If you flip on a light switch in the Asheville metropolitan area, you’re drawing power from Progress Energy’s Skyland plant.
Federal judge: TVA must install pollution controls at four coal-fired power plants
In an order signed Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Lacy Thornburg ruled that pollution from the nation’s largest public utility constitutes a “public nuisance” and must be cleaned up.
Progress Energy says Asheville coal-ash ponds safe
A Progress Energy spokesperson reports that the coal-ash storage ponds at its Asheville plant are closely monitored and safe.
Coal slurry for a Tennessee Christmas
At 1 a.m. on Dec. 22, some 500 million gallons of coal sludge flooded 15 homes in a 400-acre area west of Knoxville. Unleashed by a break in a waste-pond retaining wall at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired plant, the wave of mud and coal ash knocked at least one home off its foundation and was as deep as 6 feet as it rushed downstream.
The Green Scene
When Charles Dickens published works such as A Christmas Carol and Hard Times in the mid-1800s, coal loomed large among the world’s energy sources. The smokestacks in Dickens’ tales belched black, toxic smoke. That smoke may be gone or at least reduced today, thanks to better filtering and monitoring. But we still rely on coal, […]
Judge rules against Duke Energy’s Cliffside plant
U.S. District Judge Lacy H. Thornburg has ruled that Duke Energy must comply with the Clean Air Act for its new unit at the Cliffside power plant. The Dec. 2 order forces Duke to undergo a stringent process to investigate the plant’s likely pollution levels, as well as the appropriate technology to control toxics released from the new coal boiler that Duke says will replace several smaller older units.
Duke told to scrub harder at Cliffside
State regulators have upped the ante on pollution controls at Duke Energy’s coal-burning Cliffside power plant in Rutherford County, where construction began in January.
Climate change culture clash
With chants of “Stop mountaintop removal, it kills!” and “No more coal!” some 40 protesters—some dressed as canaries and polar bears—swarmed around the Bank of America on Patton Avenue around 2 p.m. on Aug. 13. A handful of the young activists entered the bank, where they dumped coal on the floor and locked themselves together […]
Dog day afternoon
Like a bank officer turning down a loan, Doug Stachura sat behind his desk late last week in his office at Bank of America’s main local branch, at 68 Patton Ave., with arms crossed resolutely. His gaze, while not unfriendly, spoke volumes. With two acts of protest against the Charlotte-based bank’s financing of coal companies […]
Policing the protest
At 2:10 p.m. on Aug. 13, the Asheville Police Department received a call about the protest at Bank of America. Later in the afternoon, they announced the arrests of five protesters inside the bank on charges of trespassing, failure to disperse and resisting arrest. photo by Jon Elliston Sgt. Lizz Budd was the first to […]
Sticking their necks out
The day before the demonstration at Bank of America, the activists gathered at the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action were feeling stressed out. Despite the tranquil wooded surroundings at their camp near Brevard, the solar-powered van providing their electricity and the spicy rice and vegetables being served up for lunch, the air crackled with tension. […]