Battle Lines Form as Coal-Ash Dump Leaks Into W.Va. Neighborhood

"CHESTER, W.Va. -- The ground here is leaking. Several neighbors have moved away to escape seeps coming out of the hillside. They say the leaks have dampened their backyards and infested their homes with mold. ..."



"Neighbors blame the 1,700-acre Little Blue Run coal ash dump -- an unlined impoundment that straddles the border with Pennsylvania and has for decades been a repository for combustion waste from FirstEnergy Corp.'s Bruce Mansfield coal power plant near Shippingport, Pa. The waste travels several miles through an underground pipe.

Environmental advocates argue the dump -- which neighbors say is several hundred feet deep in places and can look light sapphire blue from the sky -- is emblematic of the pollution that dozens of such facilities are causing. They want U.S. EPA to force them to close."

Manuel Quinones reports for Greenwire January 14, 2013.
 

Source: Greenwire, 01/15/2013