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Eden coal ash ponds among the nation's most dangerous

Back in April I wrote about coal ash ponds in North Carolina and a nascent effort to regulate them. (Click here for that.)

These are ponds of toxic goo that, in most cases, sit by water ways. There are two of them up in Eden.

They started getting national attention in December when a 5.4 million gallon coal ash pond/pile run by the TVA in Tennessee broke lose and spread waste over hundreds of acres.

In May, Rep. Pricey Harrison had managed to get a coal ash regulation provision in a draft of the budget. Since then, that provision has been removed from the budget.

That’s the local angle. The national angle comes from this USA Today report Monday:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed the locations of 44 "high-hazard" coal-ash piles in 10 states on Monday, after previously saying they were keeping the locations secret to prevent them from becoming targets of terrorism.

There are seven in Kentucky, all located at the same power plants identified in December by Kentucky environmental regulators, including a LG&E's Cane Run plant in southwestern Louisville. Other states with high-hazard ash impoundments are Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, according to the EPA.

It turns out there are 12 different coal ash ponds on that EPA list of 44 including two in Eden North Carolina along the Dan River. Click here for the list.

Why do you care? More from the USA Today story:

"The presence of liquid coal-ash impoundments near our homes, schools and businesses could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture" said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. "By compiling a list of these facilities, EPA will be better able to identify and reduce potential risks by working with states and local emergency responders."

Final note, when I wrote about this back in April, the Eden City Manager said he had no concerns about the coal ash ponds there.

“We work excellently with Duke Energy,” said Eden City Manager Brad Corcoran. “They communicate very well with us.” He said the town had no problems or concerns with Duke’s coal ash pond or other operations.