dan river coal ash spill

As pressure grows on power companies to move toxic coal ash out of leaky, wet impoundments and into dry, lined landfills, the experience of an African-American community near one such landfill in rural Alabama highlights the potential problems with that approach.

North Carolina's carcinogen-contaminated drinking water near Duke Energy's coal ash dumps — and the political fight over what to do about it — should serve as a warning for problems to come in other historically coal-dependent states due to a lack of federal oversight for drinking water and coal ash disposal.

People from across North Carolina whose lives have been affected by coal ash pollution have joined forces to launch the Alliance of Carolinians Together Against Coal Ash. The coalition plans to press Duke Energy and state leaders for safer long-term solutions for coal ash storage.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has become a leading national advocate for expanded offshore drilling — a role that builds on almost three decades of his close personal, economic and political ties to the energy industry.

This week marked the first anniversary of a massive coal ash spill into the Dan River from a retired Duke Energy power plant in North Carolina. How much safer are the public and the environment today?

With Duke Energy under pressure to move toxic coal ash away from waterways, it's planning to send it to abandoned clay mines in two North Carolina counties. But could scores of mines elsewhere in the state end up being targeted for coal ash dumping, too?

The utility giant plans to move toxic coal ash from existing high-risk disposal sites to abandoned clay mines in two North Carolina counties -- but the counties are taking a stand against those plans.

Environmentalists say a long-awaited federal rule governing disposal of the toxic waste left over after burning coal is "too little and too late" -- and that when the next disaster inevitably occurs the White House will share the blame.

Environmental advocates announced they discovered a coal ash leak into North Carolina's Yadkin River from a Duke Energy power plant just days before 60 Minutes aired a report in which the CEO said her company was "operating safely." Will the EPA finally take tough action to stop the ongoing coal ash disaster in that state and others -- or will that job continue to fall to private watchdogs?

North Carolina has passed the nation's first state law regulating coal ash, but it's being met with protests for not doing enough to protect public health and the environment -- and for placing oversight in the hands of political appointees in a state where Duke Energy is a major campaign financier.