According to a civil lawsuit filed last week, coal ash from a power plant owned by Arlington, Va.-based AES Corp. was dumped illegally on beaches in the Dominican Republic -- making nearby residents sick and causing serious birth defects. More...

The Government Accountability Office finds that 26 coal-burning power plants have reported spills or other unpermitted releases of coal ash from 35 surface impoundments over the past decade. More...

The EPA has promised to more strictly regulate toxic coal ash -- so is it really such a good idea to still be pushing its use on agricultural crops? More...

A company wants to place coal ash from the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant into an old mine atop a nearby mountain. But environmentalists and local residents oppose the plan, citing potential health problems. More...

A new analysis of self-reported data from power companies finds that pollution is seeping into the groundwater from 13 coal ash ponds located across the state -- in some cases at levels 380 times state standards. More...

Contamination seeping from an SCE&G coal-fired power plant imperils area residents' wells and a nearby national ecological treasure -- and it's expected to come up in a court case set to begin today over whether the company should be allowed to build another ash dump at the plant. More...

Heavy rains are leading to unprecedented flooding of the Chattahoochee River, which runs near coal ash storage ponds at Georgia Power's Plant Wansley and Plant Yates. The company says it has no reports of problems at this time. More...

One day after environmental groups announced they planned to sue over the matter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would revise federal rules to limit wastewater discharges from coal-burning power plants. More...

The federal government has released information to environmental groups showing there are 584 coal ash dumps across the country -- almost double the number previously identified. But some utilities including Duke Energy, Progress Energy and the Southern Co. are still withholding data on their dumps, claiming it's "confidential business information." More...

New research by scientists with Duke University and the Georgia Institute of Technology details hazards from the coal ash spilled last year from the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant. The findings come as TVA considers shutting down some of its older coal plants. More...

The President has nominated Joseph Pizarchik to head the federal agency that regulates coal mining practices. Pointing to his pro-industry record as a mining regulator in Pennsylvania, environmentalists are calling on Senators to vote no. More...

A law toughening regulation of coal ash dumps passes in North Carolina, where there are more high-hazard facilities than any other state. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Valley Authority revises hazard ratings for its ash ponds -- but should companies really be making that call? More...

The governor of North Carolina -- the state that has more "high-hazard" coal ash dumps than any other -- endorses legislation to increase oversight. But what about the dangers lurking elsewhere? More...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan to dump 3 million tons of toxic coal ash from last year's massive Tennessee spill in an impoverished Black Belt county -- but local residents and officials are fighting back in creative ways. More...

Newly released test results of samples taken from a waterway near last year's massive ash spill show dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals. Is it really a good idea to encourage people to play in the water? More...

North Carolina is the state with the most sites -- a dozen -- where a failure like the recent one in Tennessee could kill significant numbers of people. Meanwhile, North Carolina-based Duke Energy has the most facilities on the list with 10. More...

Engineers say the massive ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston plant last December was caused by a unique set of factors, but watchdogs are skeptical. Are other disasters waiting to happen at U.S. coal plants? More...

The Inspector General says the federal corporation released inaccurate information to the public. TVA chafes at the charge -- but a closer look reveals the audit actually understates the effort to downplay the environmental hazards. More...

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified 44 coal ash disposal sites so hazardous that their failure would imperil the lives of nearby residents -- but it won't tell the public where they are, citing security concerns. What about citizens' right to know? More...

JUNE 2009 | A new study has found that exposure to arsenic -- a cancer-causing element emitted in large quantities by coal-burning power plants and other industrial facilities -- made mice more likely to experience the most severe effects of swine flu. So why are some lawmakers fighting regulations that would better protect Americans from arsenic pollution? More...