Environmental Groups’ Statement on Duke Energy Finally Giving the Public Legally-Required Information To Prepare for Possible Toxic Waste Spills in Indiana

October 9, 2017

“These toxic coal ash dumps are dangerous, and past spills around the country have been catastrophic. It’s too bad it took the threat of a lawsuit to get Duke Energy to finally release maps showing what would happen in a spill, but we’re glad the public now has this information that it should have had months ago,” said Earthjustice Project Attorney Jenny Cassel, speaking on behalf of the three groups who told Duke Energy they’d see the company in court unless it agreed to turn over the critical safety information it had been withholding.

The non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice is representing Waterkeeper Alliance, Wabash Riverkeeper and the Hoosier Environmental Council to ensure that Indiana residents can get the information they’re entitled to so they can protect themselves from pollution spills from coal ash dumps.

“These dumps need to be cleaned up, period. Too many people are unaware of the pollution nightmare scenario posed by the toxics dumped in these huge pits after a power plant burns coal. We’re talking about arsenic, lead, chromium and other toxics that can cause cancer and brain damage in people, and also can accumulate in the environment and move up the food chain. People shouldn’t have to live with these threats, the dumps should be cleaned up. ”

“Now that we have Duke Energy’s maps showing where the pollution would spread during a catastrophic spill, we are all now closely studying them to make sure citizens are prepared. Meanwhile, we’ll keep working to get the dumps cleaned up once and for all. ”