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Sierra Club wants to

Keep coal waste out of our waters

There are no federal safeguards to protect our communities from toxic coal ash pollution full of mercury and arsenic.

10,532 people have helped this campaign

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UPDATE: The State of North Carolina has announced that it will work with the EPA to pursue enforcement actions against Duke Energy for violating the Clean Water Act. Duke's spill of coal ash into the Dan River is just the latest example of the danger of toxic coal ash. Now is the time to show the EPA that all Americans deserve to be protected from toxic coal waste -- before another spill like the…

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Duke Energy is the biggest energy company in America, with coal waste sites in six states -- including the one that spilled its toxic contents into the Dan River this February.  The EPA has rated ten of these coal ash sites, including the one on the Dan River, as being "high hazard." Duke has known about the problems with their coal ash ponds for years but done nothing to significantly clean…

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About the campaign

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  • Sierra Club
    Sierra Club
    64,455 supporters · Message

    Environmental Protection Since 1892, the Sierra Club has been working to protect communities, wild…Read More

10,532 Campaign Supporters

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Why this matters

Sierra Club
Sierra Club Campaign leader

All too often, governors and state agencies can't or won't protect our communities from toxic coal waste. That's why it's so important that…Read More

Right answer on coal ash spill not hard, gov

Last week, N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory zig-zagged his way close to the right stand on Duke Energy’s massive spill that dumped 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River north of Greensboro. But he still missed the mark. Last Monday at N.C. A&T University, he said Duke Energy should respond to the spill by “moving ash ponds so they don’t cause…Read More
Sierra Club
Sierra Club Campaign leader

This New York Times articles shows why we need tough, enforceable, national safeguards against toxic waste like coal ash.

Ash Spill Shows How Watchdog Was Defanged

Trip Gabriel
RALEIGH, N.C. — Last June, state employees in charge of stopping water pollution were given updated marching orders on behalf of North Carolina’s new Republican governor and conservative lawmakers. “The General Assembly doesn’t like you,” an official in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources told supervisors called to a drab meeting…Read More
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