Toxic Waste Spill in North Carolina: Coal Ash (Part 1)

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Coal ash, which contains many of the world's worst carcinogens, is what's left over when coal is burnt for electricity. An estimated 113 million tons of coal ash are produced annually in the US, and stored in almost every state - some of it literally in people's backyards. With very little government oversight and few safeguards in place, toxic chemicals have been known to leak from these storage sites and into nearby communities, contaminating drinking water and making residents sick.
On February 2, 2014, up to 39,000 tons of coal ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated water spilled out into the Dan River in North Carolina after a pipe broke underneath a coal ash pond at a Duke Energy power plant. The environmental disaster thrust Duke Energy, the country’s largest electricity company, into the spotlight, revealing a history of violations and inadequate oversight of ponds at all of its plants across the state.
In part one, VICE News travels to North Carolina to visit a river that’s been poisoned with arsenic from a nearby Duke Energy site, speak with a resident who has found toxic heavy metals in her drinking water, and question a Duke Energy spokesperson about the power company’s policies.
Watch "Showdown in Coal Country" - bit.ly/16LRifW
Watch "Petcoke: Toxic Waste in the Windy City" - bit.ly/1E2YejO
Read "Humans Are Destroying the Environment at a Rate Unprecedented in Over 10,000 Years" - bit.ly/1vgvC1R
Read "The Economic Cost of Carbon Pollution Is Much Greater Than Estimated, Say Stanford University Researchers" - bit.ly/1ATb1b0
Read "The EPA Tightened Rules on Coal Waste, But Not Enough, Say Environmentalists” - bit.ly/1vXglsH
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8 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 644

@thompson10ful 9 лет назад

That Duke PR lady was cunning in that interview. Never fully answered the question, but was treated as so

@Thumbsupurbum 9 лет назад

Yea, I loved the part where she talked about being able to touch it, and how harmless it is to your skin. As if THAT were the issue. I'd like to see her drink some of the contaminated water from the NC resident's home in the video.

@xcvsdxvsx 9 лет назад

Obvious strawman is obvious. No one was arguing that no pollution at all is desirable or even attainable but she seemed to be arguing against some imaginary person who was saying this.

@Azivegu 9 лет назад

I can understand why people dislike her. Her arguments where very weak at best, but she is doing her job, how sucky a job it may be.

@ThoughtfulThug 9 лет назад

Azivegu I personally don't feel sorry for her. And that argument of "just doing his or her job" is really a lame excuse to not hold themselves accountable for their immoral actions.

@xcvsdxvsx 9 лет назад

ThoughtfulThug I never understood the "hes just doing his job" thing. Hitmen are just doing their jobs when they murder people. Imagine if a jury acquitted a hitman because "he was just doing his job".

@mukkaar 9 лет назад

Just change the coal plants to Nuclear power plants. New nuclear power technology is so many times safer and environmentally friendly than coal, oil and old nuclear plants. Tough we would probably already have got rid of all these thing if it were not for huge business in coal industry and its influence to politics.

@TheTruthHurts732 9 лет назад

Then you have the nuclear waste to dispose of and of course, the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe. I'm not sure what's better or worse at this point.

@OtterVal 9 лет назад

TheTruthHurts732 the amount of waste created is less then that of coal

@CSM_Gray 9 лет назад

Oh yes nuclear is so safe. Ever heard of Chernobyl you loon?

@OtterVal 9 лет назад

Chernobyl happened because there was a serious issue with staff rotation.

@geoffrihenderson5815 9 лет назад

TheTruthHurts732 in the entire history of nuclear power there have only been 4 reactors that have failed. 4 reactor failures in 50+ yrs vs Five oil spills in the US in just the last year & at least 90 spills since 2000? Hope that truth didn't hurt too bad...

@PonchoANS7 9 лет назад

The last time Vice posted a video discussing coal's role in the US, the comment section was filled with people claiming that they were exaggerating the threat coal poses. Where are they now?

@jayne2648 3 года назад

Isn't it amazing something like this never gets national attention on every major network!!??

@jacobgentz4515 9 лет назад

I work with my father who has a contract to haul coal ash to a dump site where there are hills of coal ash. I knew it was bad but not this bad, I have loaded over a 100 trucks full of ash. Almost every time the coal ash is super dry and dusty which then fills the cab of the truck in turn im breathing in. My father has been doing this for over a decade and now want him to watch this to see the impact it really has on him.

@user-dl7xq9bb3z 5 лет назад

Read your comment now... Do you have result of any test done Jacob ? Cheers!

@applesaucejones2650 9 лет назад

The scary thing is that I live in NC by duke energy and never heard about this until I saw this video...

@Gesus111 8 месяцев назад

Scary

@altontisdale2689 9 лет назад

THANK YOU for covering this topic! North Carolina is home to so many aware and conscious souls, but have been under the thumb of twisted decision-making (James Arthur Pope is an individual you may want to look into.) Far too beautiful a state to be caught in a toxic tide!

@Thumbsupurbum 9 лет назад

Duke Energy also runs the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant near Raleigh, NC. This power plant has poor safety as well, vessel reactor walls have been cracking, they've even had fires! They have even refurbished parts from the Three Mile Island plant!! Shearon Harris has been shut down several times in the last few years alone. I live just 30 miles from this plant, and it scares me.

@josefgriveas7113 9 лет назад

You should move away from that area dont ya think?

@Thumbsupurbum 9 лет назад

Joseph Griveas There are still many many more things I love about this area. Moving is more of a last resort.

@gunslinger2488 9 лет назад

You mean that thing near lake Jordan? I heard it was built on a fault line too.

@Thumbsupurbum 9 лет назад

Preston Trotter It's on Shearon Harris lake. Just south of lake jordan

@deeqam.9023 6 лет назад

I live in morrisville . pretty much in the middle of lake Jordan and the power plant

@-scrim 9 лет назад

There is no planet B.

@mrmustangman 6 лет назад

.....or planet 2.0....

@crazyfarmlife2706 4 года назад

Only because we are not trying hard enough I feel if we had a 5 or 10 year deadline all the "important" people would be safely extracted to planet B

@JasonEd7 9 лет назад

We use coal ash also known as fly ash in concrete all of the time. This has been a great use of the byproduct for years.

@felixd2136 5 лет назад

over here in Germany we do the same, about 97% percent of coal ash are recycled (the three percent is just stored temporarily and then also being used. www.powerengineeringint.com/2015/03/18/managing-coal-ash/

@raygarcia7329 5 лет назад

I’m from Yadkin county North Carolina approximately an hour and 5 minutes away from this river. This is the first I have heard of this spill, whatever is going on they made sure to keep a lid on things.

@handymanr4729 2 года назад

If its so clean make the woman from the power company drink a cup from the seepage /leak sites...

@laurarussell1159 7 лет назад

They never have solar spills... lmfao

@SAMQuade 9 лет назад

The solution? Thorium. Thorium is so cheap and easy to keep safe. Its one of the most common minerals found in our dirt and has almost no waste to speak of.

@TheTruthHurts732 9 лет назад

My friends parents live less than a mile from that plant and when I went there a few years ago to visit, they talked about how the ash winds up on the railings, windows, etc.

@airborneace 9 лет назад

I hate to be a dick but I betcha that plant was there before they moved in. this is kinda like people moving next to train tracks and complaining about the horn noise.

@SaintBrick 9 лет назад

this stuff makes nuclear waste look like a walk in the park.

@caryfrancis8030 9 лет назад

I live in BC Canada. In the last five years we have had record amounts of coal sales, both China and the US have been buying it like its going out of style. Something that is not addressed is coal dust, yup, dust that falls off trucks, trains, loaders and very part from harvesting to consumption. This all makes nuclear power seem like a good idea.

@kelmandevil 9 лет назад

want to see what a soulless corporate spokesman looks like? Skip to 8 minutes in.

@pertechnetyl 5 лет назад

It is not the hexavalent chromium that causes these cancer rate growths (4.5 ppb is still an extremely low content). It is arsenic, thorium, uranium, thallium, nickel, and cadmium which pose the major threat. Another threat is mercury, lead and selenium which may lead to brain & nervous system damage (first 2), and to issues like blindness (Se).

@michaelspencer9 9 лет назад

Living in North Carolina I can say this report was on point

@colleenmcgrady6387 6 лет назад

We can thank the chem trails for years of toxic dumping ... filter your water and use hydroponic veg growing methods and no more fish from the oceans until Mother Nature cleans her nest .. but folks we have to stop all these assaults on our earth .. especially CERN ..!

@TheOmegajimes 9 лет назад

This is pretty despicable, but falls right in line with what I expect to hear from the U.S. Did you really ask a child about heavy metals in the water? What knowledge do you think he has of the chemical affects on his body? Why not ask him about the differences about Chromium (III) and Chromium (VI) oxides next?

@cwharton 9 лет назад

I agree with your statement. However, it is a little naive to think that only the U.S. media is the only media source that can't report the news right in the world.

@KILLKING110 9 лет назад

I grew up in Wyoming where the rivers part of the year ran with heavy metals and I didn't die

@TheOmegajimes 9 лет назад

Chris Wharton I was just expecting more out of Vice than to have a child there, parroting his mother in a hamfisted attempt at tugging heartstrings.

@jjdude5531 9 лет назад

The point is not that he's an expert on toxic contaminants, but that he is a child who is human and who's been affected by this disaster. It's to say that while everyone is bickering about the politics of energy and the actual toxicity of the substances, there are real people out there suffering as a result of these problems.

@jfrancisbf 2 года назад

@VICE_News Do you have any videos on the Toxic Dumping leeching into the water table of Camp LeJeune? I was on base in the early 80’s, with my Dad for roughly 3 years.

@Tboyizthebomb 9 лет назад

Well i'm not going to rant on about how these big companies are corrupt and don't care about the average person. Because what is the government going to do about it, what are big politicians going to do about it? Nothing absolutely nothing, Why argue on a topic that wont change?

@bluemountaindrivepae 5 лет назад

Coal ash is used with salt on streets and sidewalks in Pennsylvania. My Dad bought a coal/wood stove in the 80's. Pennsylvania has a big coal mining industry.

@just_some1575 5 лет назад

A lot of uneducation here, when people say solar never has a spil it's true. Because solar panels are the end product. You need to erase a lot of forest's and rivers. when silicium is mined, there are al ot of byproduct like lead and arsenic and... Silicium is also only mined in poor countries that have almost no reglementation on the dumping of these metals in drinking water. So enviromentalist think twice about what you say.

@camham650 9 лет назад

The Dan River runs through my city, we get all of our water directly from the river. In fact the name of the city, Danville, was named after the river. After the spill, and continuously today, Duke Energy, the EPA, and the local water treatment plant have all said that the water has been safe to drink. I've been skeptical, but I haven't noticed or heard of anything harmful that has come of this, well to the human population that is.

@NicolasPerez15 9 лет назад

c'mon EPA. Neighbors of the plant need to get premium filters installed on their wells at the plants expense. Oh and the little kid was totally adorable.

@aniplays948 9 лет назад

What's the point anymore? The world will die along with everything else, and it's our fault. We cannot stop it it's over....

@Noobnubnoob 9 лет назад

Fuck yeah my state Rhode Island doesn't use coal

@zekromepic678 9 лет назад

You are looking to far

@KILLKING110 9 лет назад

then your screwed if your nuclear reactor has a total meltdown because just about everyone within fallout range will die look at Chyrnoble and how bad that was and how bad that still is

@Noobnubnoob 9 лет назад

***** very cheap electric bill

@Sammysapphira 9 лет назад

***** Chernobyl can not happen again. It's technologically impossible with current nuclear technology. Chernobyl happened because of an inexperienced engineer doing the wrong things at the wrong time. Modern day nuclear reactors do everything by themselves. Chernobyl is actually very low on the radiation levels these days, only in specific places is it dangerous.

@KILLKING110 9 лет назад

try telling that to the survivors of chyrnobol

@mrmustangman 6 лет назад

We are all doomed.... technology has made life easier but made the human existence worse.....

@TklistNet1 9 лет назад

If people are being poisoned why is this not in the court system? Why are there no lawsuits?

@ralphnolan3187 3 года назад

Coal pollution is anywhere coal is

@pietrojenkins6901 9 лет назад

Who cares , as long as I'm making big bucks from Duke Energy stock which has done well recently and I'm far away its all fine with me.This problema is NIMBY.

@grrr6637 5 лет назад

They should sue. What an evil company.

@Behzey2fly 9 лет назад

why are people hating on the young minds who are able to get jobs at #Vice

@Bacoprah 6 лет назад

11:25 - fixed a jug of Coal-Aid....

@samwoods3430 6 лет назад

There's no other way to do it baby

@dwrldgster3151 7 лет назад

omg this is stupid my mama grew up burning coal for heat. My wife's mama's gets her water from under a surface coal mine spring. one is 85 one is 83

@LakeNormanMike 8 лет назад

Two years later, NC finally fines Duke for coal ash spill on Dan River.

@makeitallrite11 9 лет назад

why not put it back in the empty mines that are everywhere, just a thought since they are below the water tables....

@nellennatea 9 лет назад

Shocking. Poor people.

@anguswallace5548 9 лет назад

Who has more reason to not tell the truth, a multimillion dollar company with it's millions invested in coal, or the advocates putting their name on the line to stand up for something they can see is damaging their home?

@Jazzwithlaz 9 лет назад

this is the reason American test scores are so low...

@antifragile914 9 лет назад

A good mandate to solve this problem will be that all the people who work at the station will live near the station and consume the presumably safe ground water.

@wyoboy01 9 лет назад

I hate how the fossil fuel industry says, "We need an open discussion. Those groups are lying." And yet when confronted with open discussion, they walk away without a word.

@AIRFORCEFREAK1 9 лет назад

That life vest is useless on her because it isn't put on correctly.

@joedirte716 4 года назад

Id bone the shit out of her

@tacosombrero1233 6 лет назад

You never have a solar spill Just like the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow

@johncole761 9 лет назад

Coal isn't the problem, electricity is. An invention widely used for a little less than 100 years that not a whole lot of people can, or want to, imagine living without although humans lived for tens of thousands of years without it. Strange thing.

@airborneace 9 лет назад

Oh, so as long as they have a permission slip from the government its OK to pour arsenic into a river?

@p331083 9 лет назад

Damn shame we arent building dozens of nuclear power plants to replace and expand the capacity of what coal provides.

@annaguettabi3974 4 года назад

Why is Alaska on the map? Alaska's energy is produced using natural gas, not coal! there is not a single leach field here - we love our nature and people.

@tylermelville1992 6 лет назад

I will fight this company if they highter cost for this mess that they made in the first place we never call them to do it. Carbon taxes on every energy company are needed.

@MichaelKiddRocks 9 лет назад

I would like to watch that duke energy spokesperson drink the water that those families can't.

@kellyoxo2818 8 лет назад

Look up Copperhill, TN. It took way longer than 30 years to restore the water quality. That place began its toxic water problems probably after the civil war, we should not have to devastate our drinking supply to support energy sources.

@JostenDooley 9 лет назад

Where's Erin Brockovich?

@abu-bakarrbah9035 9 лет назад

Only America...

@nextgen8888 9 лет назад

Thanks for putting this out there Vice. You guys do really good work.

@strafer8764 3 года назад

Should have brought a bottle of water from someone tap that had polluted water and told her to drink it. That woman is unethical skirting around questions and even gets a bit of an attitude. Corporate lackey

@100-s9l 9 лет назад

Have all the people who don't think coal ash is harmful move into their own community, then store the coal ash there. Problem solved.

@stevenwilliams9359 2 года назад

Such an important topic, that's why we can't spare any more than a 16 min video.

@whatfor5 9 лет назад

Hang on a second. So at ~12:00 the woman says that she doesn't use tap water for anything anymore, she only uses bottled water. As she says it, she is drawing water through her fridge which almost certainly runs a basic carbon filter which will not meet safety specs for Chromium-6 removal. She also is TOTALLY missing the point that: she can just install a whole-house reverse osmosis system and have cleaner water than almost any municipal water in the country. Is it the perfect solution? No, ideally we could all drink perfectly sparking fresh clean water, but the reality is that both with ground and surface water supplies, private and municipal, there are a variety of issues some "natural" and some industrial. The best you can hope for is a technological remedy to said problem. In this case the solution is at hand: RO.

@7r0j4n 9 лет назад

wat? she didnt use the fridge water, lay off the crack bro.

@whatfor5 9 лет назад

***** good catch. Water dispenser not fridge. Point about the reverse osmosis system still stands though.

@KK4DF 5 лет назад

Our government says the safe limit is 100 ppb, and Riverkeeper says it needs to be less than 0.02 ppb to be safe?

@AlexFanningShow 9 лет назад

Damn so close to home

@bentpin7870 9 лет назад

Don't worry guys Jesus says it's safe.

@12oradsrgobry 9 лет назад

In developed countries is outrageous that there has not been made real effort to find an alternative to coal as energy. We do not live in the 19th century anymore. I place oil in the same category. For how long will we allow these companies to make private profit by damaging the environment?

@MrAndrewstorm1 9 лет назад

It is better than radiation dearch enenews fuchashima radiation

@hunterdennis4712 9 лет назад

"Coal is still a vital part of our everyday lives. It makes up 39% of our electricity and is projected to hold steady for the next decade". This is wrong. Coal usage and dependency is decreasing. Many other statements in this film are falsely radical. www.whitehouse.gov/climate-change www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/02/obama-rules-coal-climate-change

@DJKaySwift 9 лет назад

Well mama was wrong.Life ain't like no damn box of chocolates. JENNY!......JENNY!......Oh shit. Jenny's dead!.....Mama! ,,...Mama!.....Oh shit.she dead too......HEEEEELP LITTLE GUMP!...... HEEEEELP!

@homecyber32283 6 лет назад

aint there away to clean the water? like boiling or filter or both or something to clean it up so u use it?? where ppl like this go with there lifes?? or is it fact like the lady said ther not enough knowing bout to fact the heath problems that theyll can fix the water problems for both problems? we in 21st century why havnt we figure what to do with the waste from coal??

@colleenmcgrady6387 6 лет назад

Stop CERN ..

@stevenwilliams9359 2 года назад

@5:23 Holy Hell the lady is a genius comparing it to coffee!

@ESPNGenius1 9 лет назад

That spill did mess up the Dan River.

@TimberLumberJack4850 2 года назад

Vice chick has a crazy mustache. Lots of female facial hair in this video. 😆

@scasey1960 6 лет назад

This is how the state manages their water and land resources.

@oliethemagicbum 9 лет назад

my question is, how does it just, spill. like was it an accident?

@pertechnetyl 5 лет назад

Arsenic is not a heavy metal. It is a semi-metal.

@dabeev 9 лет назад

Am I the only one who cringed when she broke the spaghetti in half before putting it in the pot? I know, I know -- off topic -- but still.

@numgun 9 лет назад

At this rate will make the planet uninhabitable without needing nukes. : P

@marksmanviii6062 9 лет назад

I live in North Carolina

@gw5479 9 лет назад

Still a better love story than twilight? What? XD

@Jake__v 9 лет назад

Hey Vice, are you guys going to talk about the CSX train crash in West Virginia?

@ballyhuntu 9 лет назад

Well fuck I drank that water....

@alanohms 4 года назад

For anyone wondering im pretty sure this is in salisbury nc its right out side charlotte

@WhiteWolfUsa 9 лет назад

It's time to use a new form of energy.

@Name-dw7ix 9 лет назад

vice says recents events not even saying when it was.

@Name-dw7ix 9 лет назад

2:00

@thomaswilburn6263 9 лет назад

Poison isn't bad for you.

@ThePorshaEdmun 6 лет назад

Solar / Windmills anyone 🤷🏽‍♀️

@badnews7593 6 лет назад

Praise Jesus

@gentlegiant3227 9 лет назад

At 16:16 there's a turtle on the log in the coal ash pond. Hmm....

@jmantime 9 лет назад

Teenage Mutate Ninja turtles

@abedekok322 9 лет назад

This is just a thought but, wouldn't it be simple to store this shit in sealed storage containment facilities out in the middle of nowhere, I mean it wouldn't be the best solution but it would at least *contain* the shit.

@tomtom3889 6 лет назад

I heat my house with coal

@buffylovzu 9 лет назад

The problem is the spot they chose to store all those chemicals close by rivers it is obvious if any storms appears the water was at risk.

@jakotelephone 9 лет назад

This again is just a very large case that will bury everyone in paper work and never be resolved

@COMPAQCQ70 8 лет назад

also, bad idea if want to live near power plants ...

@lynxkwasi125 9 лет назад

Exactly why projects like the XL pipeline need to be seriously reconsidered

@raul1899 9 лет назад

I'm in love with the reporter. Like seriously.

@chichi8920 Год назад

Well playing with people's health is not right either ,is it.

@anarchyghost704 9 лет назад

Okay here's an idea if you don't like the waste coal produces don't use the energy don't put money in their pockets instead cut yourself off from Duke Energy produce your own power then complain. I'm not for or against this issue but all these people complaining use the energy so how can you complain when you're buying the product over and over and over again it doesn't make sense to me if you have a problem with it don't support the company it's that simple if you know Coal is going to do that convert your house to solar power and don't buy power from them then maybe they wouldn't have to use so much it really fascinates me to see people go after these big companies but then turn right around and line there pockets. Talking about it won't solve it going around trying to catch them slipping up also will not stop it do you know what will stop it... NOT BUYING POWER FROM THEM!!! But they're the only affordable power company or I can't afford to produce my own well guess what you're part of the problem if you're using it you're part of the problem produce your own energy and eliminate the need for the power company simple as that the more people that start doing it the more affordable it will become then power companies will be forced to lower prices and have to compete with green energy don't be part of the problem become the solution!

@kellyoxo2818 8 лет назад

I know that we can't stop depending on the former energy source that is polluting the drinking water. This country needs to shift to additional energy sources to cut down on the consumption of coal. 1. Water wheels for energy 2. Solar power 3. Wind If each home had solar, and the city used water or wind energy. If we build these.

@xcvsdxvsx 9 лет назад

So than if you wanted to internalize this cost i guess duke energy would need to supply everyone in the area a reverse osmosis water filter for the next several hundred years? That probably would make solar more competitive. It is sad to learn about this hidden cost because energy is already expensive. I don't like the thought of it being even more expensive.

@COMPAQCQ70 8 лет назад

rather stay with Nuclear power and if it controled right way. thour nuclear not safe if it leak out.