Toxic Waste in the US: Coal Ash (Full Length)

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.
VICE News travels across the US to meet the people and visit the areas most affected by this toxic waste stream. Since coal production is predicted to remain steady for the next few decades, coal ash will be a problem that will affect the US for years to come.
Watch "Showdown in Coal Country" - bit.ly/16LRifW
Watch "Petcoke: Toxic Waste in the Windy City" - bit.ly/1E2YejO
Read "Green Groups Say Another Coal Ash Spill Remains Likely, One Year After North Carolina Accident" - bit.ly/1A7dVaC
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
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[@fifthgear93]

Humanity is doomed. Everywhere you turn there is toxic pollution causing all kinds of illnesses.

[@macalister8881]

Sickness is the number 1 industry , cost so much to consume only pure stuff , thats the kicker .. good luck

[@Valivali94]

An industry that is allowed to regulate itself? Good idea guys, how could that ever go wrong? If i ever visit the US, i guess i rather bring my own food and water.

[@ManyCrimes]

Valivali94 That's retarded. There's so many marketplaces and even grocery stores to get clean food and water. We aren't Chinese or Indian dude. Our drinking water in many places is clean and so is our food. Some very low income places around the country are screwed, but if you're visiting the US I doubt you're going to the bad side of Detroit or a low income part of town. You would visit mostly tourist cities which would be fine

[@miningmachinerymanufacture9782]

Pond Ash Dryer, Fly Ash Dryer* Factory Price : www.fotemining.com/fly_ash_dryer.html?wmf

[@macalister8881]

And air you silly goose

[@dunoobyduby]

@@ManyCrimes You Sir live in a 3rd world country

[@omyhaby1912]

@@dunoobyduby 3rd world countries are not as bad as MSM brainwashed you to believe educate yourself

[@janfrank3453]

So who are you going to believe? The multimillion dollar industry who's only intent is to make more money or the volountary activist lawyer who tries to help other people? The American answer always seems to be in favor of the industry.

[@joshuagibson2520]

No. It's in favor of what people can afford.

[@sofascialistadankulamegado1781]

Exactly.

[@_rem]

@@joshuagibson2520 Nonsense. Poor health isn’t free.

[@eliasharwood7499]

Not Erin that’s for sure

[@VICENews]

VICE News travels across the US to meet the people and visit the areas most affected by this toxic waste stream. Since coal production is predicted to remain steady for the next few decades, coal ash will be a problem that will affect the US for years to come. Watch "Showdown in Coal Country" - bit.ly/16LRifW

[@Seaci2012Mar21]

VICE News Check out the KZbin video "Chemtrails are coal ash" this is how the industry gets rid of some of the ash. Humans are being assaulted through air, water, food, electromagnetically and with information given or withheld. Start with distilled water, begin to reclaim your health and ability to think clearly

[@MrTruth0teller]

+VICE News Coal ash can be processed to make cement. In fact in India coal ash is being used to make cement for about last twenty years. Technology for using flyash aka coalash is ingeniously developed in india for cement manufacturing. Small particle size of coalash actually yields better quality cement than conventional cement.

[@mightymulatto3000]

+bilbo baggins Cement workers developing lymphoma. ¥ouch.

[@gandolfthewhite]

+VICE News since the EPA MANDATED scrubbers on the coal stacks in the 1970 there hasn't been coal ash in the air for decades in the US. The scrubbers are water vapor that wash everything out of the smoke. The white smoke coming out of the stacks are steam from water vapor.

[@anthonychavez7537]

VICE News

[@skellymom]

I worked for an independent environmental monitoring company years ago that would take samples and oversee hazardous waste abatement work crews. One job was at a coal trash burning plant. The ash was EVERYWHERE! Inside and outside the plant was just dirty dusty coal ash. When crews had to cut out the burning bale to install a new one the PPE (personal protection equipment) requirements were crazy compared to other jobs I had been on (asbestos, PCB, lead, etc.). Because the amount of arsenic, lead, cadmium, etc in the ash was so friggin' high the crew had to work with supplied air. Basically long oxygen lines with properly fitted full head respirator masks. Usually a job site only needs half or full face canister masks. And, the exposure time for work was 15-20 minutes per man per shift tops. No more or the exposure was too great. When heavy metals get heated, their toxicity skyrockets. So, the job took forever. The full time workers in that plant swore we were nuts for being so careful. I remember a guy telling me he could eat a cup of that dust on his cereal for breakfast and it wouldn't hurt him. That was 1993. I am in good health and working a totally different career. I wonder if any of those guys are cancer free and still alive... Side note: The supervisor of the abatement/welding crew didn't use proper methods of decontaminating (showering out/pulling his respirator on top of his head instead of under his chin-resting on his chest and touching his lips...which he would get ash on his lips with possible ingestion) and within a year of being on the job, wound up with major levels of toxic levels in his blood and urine (all workers are checked annually for exposure). He developed tremors he became more aggressive attitude wise. Both symptoms are indicative of heavy metal poisoning. The company he worked for pulled him off the job.

[@al-bi7by]

I live in PA and we are dealing with cadmium contamination in the drinking water thanks to fracking. The hardcore Republicans here welcomed fracking with open arms and wouldn't hear a word against it. Now entire towns and hundreds of people with private wells can't drink their water and really shouldn't be bathing in it either because the cadmium is so toxic. You should hear them whining now even though they were warned.

[@Regg363]

The problem with these types of videos is the are produced by sources that are uninformed. And they make video full of DISINFORMATION and contain NO FACTS. You get two byproducts from electric generation using Coal, bottom ash and fly ash. Bottom ash is used as road base in country roads and interstate highways. The fly ash is used as an additive to concrete to make it more dense and increases its tensile strength. Or it is mixed with limestone and used to make gypsum or drywall. So this video like all the other leftist Marxist sources is again full of fact less disinformation. My source, I work for a coal generation plant for 35 yrs. So am the horse that this information comes from.

[@CashisKingtrucking]

There's nothing wrong with coal ash. I ate it every morning for breakfast. Oh no wait I'm thinking of Pop-Tarts

[@raybowers3670]

Holy shit! Little blue is pretty much right in my backyard and I've never heard of it? We used to use the ash piles to jump our dirtbikes. Crazy. They definitely don't talk about this stuff on the local news channels or in local newspapers.

[@Regg363]

The problem with these types of videos is the are produced by sources that are uninformed. And they make video full of DISINFORMATION and contain NO FACTS. You get two byproducts from electric generation using Coal, bottom ash and fly ash. Bottom ash is used as road base in country roads and interstate highways. The fly ash is used as an additive to concrete to make it more dense and increases its tensile strength. Or it is mixed with limestone and used to make gypsum or drywall. So this video like all the other leftist Marxist sources is again full of fact less disinformation. My source, I work for a coal generation plant for 35 yrs. So am the horse that this information comes from.

[@L0WKEYL0GAN]

You used the ash piles?

[@harryvh3356]

You have any complications with your health now ? My employer made me climb a coal plant's smokestack (the 500' ladder was inside of the smokestack) and you could see the particles flying in the air through my headlamp's light. Now i'm experiencing a cough, so i started researching and found this video. Basically i'm wondering if i'm doomed to get cancer now.

[@bcubed72]

Make concrete out of it! It makes more durable, longer-lasting concrete than using Portland cement.

[@NighaPleas]

money > people health. Get used to it. If you dont want to , REVOLUTION

[@JohnDoe-cm4vy]

people are to afraid to revolt against their governments

[@DJMarcoAndre]

John Doe No they arent, it's already happening. It's called do not participate.

[@JohnDoe-cm4vy]

need to start burning shit down and costing them money. Burn big corporation buildings

[@vibecheck4588]

@@JohnDoe-cm4vy that would lead to anarchy and get nothing solved, well constructed arguments and evidence will. A revolution can be with words my friend. If we burnt private property however, that would get you arrested.

[@thomasjefferson5727]

It'd be an awfully dark revolution.

[@rubyroth1312]

Im glad this is being showed to everyone

[@getjacked1]

Ok the plant @9:00 is a combined cycle power plant (gas) not coal. So there would be no “coal ash”.

[@DestinyQx]

1) The family's well water may be compromised due to coal ash seeping into local water supplies. 2) The coal ash had been a byproduct of electricity consumption. 3) Electricity is partly a byproduct of consumerism. 4) The family now uses water bottles for all its water consumption. 5) The production of additional plastics (water bottles) requires more electricity, which requires greater coal production, and thus more coal ash. 6) Given that it requires 2 million joules of energy to produce one half-liter water bottle using polyethylene terephthalate plastics and that 1 ton of coal can produce 6.6 billion joules of energy, if an N number of families with P people per family decide to use W water bottles for all their water consumption each year, how much more coal ash (in tons) would be produced by this additional consumption of resources? 7) Given that China in recent years has 4 times the amount of coal production than that of the US, hm.. 8) If a tragic irony falls on humanity so that each human should succumb to disease from an ill environment but not a single soul is around to perceive such a fall, did a tragic irony really happen?

[@DJMarcoAndre]

DestinyQx And sadly, they will fill themselves up with chemicals that leech into the bottles from plastic, cause hormone disruption and the domino effect resulting from hormone imbalances. They need to just get a water generator, make their own pond and fountain system or make their own rainfall with an orgone tower.

[@kden7620]

Wow deep my man deep.

[@larmar]

I am close to the end,my life was fantastic. I feel so sad for what I didn’t know!

[@Regg363]

The problem with these types of videos is the are produced by sources that are uninformed. And they make video full of DISINFORMATION and contain NO FACTS. You get two byproducts from electric generation using Coal, bottom ash and fly ash. Bottom ash is used as road base in country roads and interstate highways. The fly ash is used as an additive to concrete to make it more dense and increases its tensile strength. Or it is mixed with limestone and used to make gypsum or drywall. So this video like all the other leftist Marxist sources is again full of fact less disinformation. My source, I work for a coal generation plant for 35 yrs. So am the horse that this information comes from.

[@Njubish]

13:00 really, you're asking a kid what it feels like to have heavy metals in the water? Who gave this woman a job?

[@mvvagner]

She's fine. I don't know why you have a problem with that. The kid was fine, and the mom was fine. It was what she was there to talk with them about.

[@Njubish]

@@mvvagner no, it's so insightful to learn what a 12 yo feels about having metals in the water. Give the journalist a reward for top quality investigation work. She should find some celebs to give opinions too

[@sofascialistadankulamegado1781]

@@mvvagner everyone looks fine until they are laying on their death bed.

[@EnveeH2]

thanks for posting

[@zomada]

Does anyone remember PRE-TV vice? They pretty much only had 20+ minute documentary's and never posted "teasers"... please vice post longer videos

[@DawgGirl2]

Good Job VICE news in promoting this video. I would like to add a side-bar concept which you did not include in your discussion of how heavy metals contaminate water. I learned about the problem of surface contamination finding its way into deep underground aquifer water system (it is all on interconnected water supply down there), from having once owned a house in Tennessee where the town water well was located directly under the town's dump where decades of trivalient chromium, chromium, and other heavy metals had been dumped for decades prior. The entire town had been poisoned for decades and people everywhere were sick but no one would take responsibility. The EPA had declared it a HP - High Priority Toxic Waste Cleanup Site decades ago, and still, everyone kept being fed this dangerously contaminated Municipal Water. What I learned is that most people - scientists and non-scientists alike, that surface chromium never stays in place - it "travels" as is commonly described. It takes no time at all for any heavy metal degree of contamination on the surface to find its way via rainfall, into the ground water supply. Trivalient Chromium and Chromium is famous for its ability to travel. The other fact that few understand is that our underground aquifer system is entirely interconnected. Sure there are different veins at different levels, but eventually they all find one another. The spider web of underground water supply on the planet is defenseless. The damage is permanent when we let one area become contaminated. We are truly at the point of unprecedented, irreversible danger in terms of what we are allowing to happen on our One Planet. The CAPACITY for the Human Race to even exist is at stage. This problem of piles (or lakes, streams, oceans) which we think are contained contamination is an oxymoron. It is in the Common Interest of every Human Being to think beyond their own actions and needs. We must think and live beyond our immediate gratification and we must stop allowing "Leaders" to come into power who do not operate off of this same ethical principle.

[@flaplaya]

Very nicely stated Ariel. It's amazing how ignorant most of society is to the dangers that lurk in drinking water. I live in east TN down river from Eastman Chemical and get a kick out of the little card that comes in the mail one time a year. It quite simply states: "Your water is contaminated with trihalomethanes due to the chlorination process". I think a fifth grader could do a better job to be quite honest.... Of course the contamination comes from the chemical plants up stream.

[@jcstang8952]

@@flaplaya did you turn off your A/C yet?

[@Cryppt]

They should have followed the trucks from the plants to the reclamation sites or old mines, like they followed the poo waste in New York. Not very good investigative reporting here. The only conclusions made are that they dumped coal ash into ponds, had to stop, then went to one coal ash processing facility.

[@gthompson58]

My high school science teacher used to take great joy in asking a student, “Do you see that steam over there?” And after the student would reply “Yes.”, he’d say “No you don’t. You can’t see steam.” So when the power plant representative referred to the condensed water vapor rising up off the coal ash as “steam”, I laughed just a little.

[@TorstenHeinrich]

The funny thing is, burning coal doesn't create heavy metals, even though this is insinuated. It just changes their location. So coal ash is just the result of removing heavy metals from the ground. It was in the coal before they burnt it already.

[@charlieseafood]

Vice documentaries always have the best soundtracks but I can never find any of the music they use

[@Obshowersyndicate]

Boral tru exterior is made from fly ash and it is a really good trim for the exterior of homes. I have installed quite a bit of it and do my best not to breath the dust when I cut it. They told me it's only a nuisance dust but I think otherwise

[@Regg363]

The problem with these types of videos is the are produced by sources that are uninformed. And they make video full of DISINFORMATION and contain NO FACTS. You get two byproducts from electric generation using Coal, bottom ash and fly ash. Bottom ash is used as road base in country roads and interstate highways. The fly ash is used as an additive to concrete to make it more dense and increases its tensile strength. Or it is mixed with limestone and used to make gypsum or drywall. So this video like all the other leftist Marxist sources is again full of fact less disinformation. My source, I work for a coal generation plant for 35 yrs. So am the horse that this information comes from.

[@kody914]

Chemistry 101: matter cannot be created or destroyed. It's a bit clingy!

[@pressureworks]

Only converted.

[@mangosandywango]

They need Erin Brockovich!

[@diegom6085]

I liked the soundtrack. anyone know any of the songs or artists?

[@Tanneristheman199]

I like how the epa set of the safe level of hexavalent chromium at 100 ppb and their well had 4 ppb and now they won't bathe in the water

[@mysterybill12]

They could easy remove all metals from it, just takes basic chemistry knowledge, like not making it into a solution to leak into water supplies

[@adeleennis2255]

The company I work for has figured out how to get ash out of the ground and water. Duke is one of the the companies we now work with in recycling their coal ash for use in other products.

[@majorroastedyou5461]

Kids face 13:40. Hes like wtf is going on lol

[@shaterproofblosm]

Seriously, where the shit are the world police when you need them?... Where the hell is the Avengers?!!?! "465 Billionaires in this world an not one has the balls to be a super hero..." We need peeps like batman.

[@shaterproofblosm]

I wonder, how would you process coal ash into carbon nano tubes? is it possible? we could be sitting on the perfect mess to process into the strongest workable material known to man, building a space elevator anyone?. And That would give Great incentive for cleaning this up and we wouldn't need to produce any more of it because of the insane amount we have in "stock"

[@iroekyjHD]

Mitt Romney. JS....

[@DanM012324]

Rafal Kalinowski What about Bill Gates, Waren Buffet and Elon Musk?

[@shaterproofblosm]

***** :'p nice. unleash 100,000 new conglomerate on this system, fix it back to freedom something Right quick!

[@shaterproofblosm]

Daniel May what about them? so ok, a few people are half ass fixing the world, so i don't have to worry about it? ... nice....

[@carstuff4260]

And people keep saying that we don't need government to regulate businesses.

[@miro.georgiev97]

Amazing.

[@evandorco5193]

How far can coal ash travel in the wind cant find any info on it

[@Americanstrong5]

Why no mention of the use of fly ash in concrete?

[@kittybanana9389]

Glad I live in British Columbia Canada where no coal is burned. All of my energy comes from hydro dams in the province.

[@chichi8920]

Kitty Banana ...don’t worry cement plant are doing their part...mines too.

[@redcoffee7853]

Shades if 'Erin Brockovich' !!!

[@Sterben026]

whats funny is nobody has a solution they say this stuff is terrible but expect the lights to stay on....

[@josephdi-lenardo6637]

is this the same for IBAA. im goin to work at some place that burns garbage waste in an incinerator and i have to sweep up the bottom ash of burnt waste. haha im having second thoughts now

[@jessicasowa1290]

Not arguing for or against either side but this video is pretty misleading when it discusses heavy metals. Hexavalent chromium is toxic - but we have to look at exposure duration and doseage in order to establish whether or not it's going to cause cancer. Additionally, current research dictates that just because you have levels of total metals exceeding a certain threashold, bioaccessibility and bioavailability is a huge aspect in determining how much of that total metal is going to represent a threat. I understand that Vice is trying to bring attention to a huge environmental issue, but lets not forget the role of science in the sensationalism

[@daniel3231995]

Everyone likes to think things are good and all blissfully ignorant but at what cost exactly. Feel in my gut a reckoning is going to come very soon.

[@macalister8881]

You may have a ulcer or stomach cancer

[@manishbachkaniwala]

In India they make bricks of fly ash and is sold extensively for use in building materials

[@michaeldowdy3176]

I have just watched this and I’m amazed at what fly ash or coal ash contains. I worked for Quikrete for twenty years handled fly ash every day and was never told this! I’ve seen tons of flyash spilled on the ground up to 20 tons at one time just scraped away and dumped in a pile behind work that grew over 40 feet taller in those years. Serious runoff during storms straight to the Clinch River. How can you report someone who has that much money and a huge legal department. I know more secrets than most because I was a supervisor on evening shift and done the dirty work of deposing of this material. At anytime at least a ton of flyash is laying on the ground at anytime!

[@adeleennis2255]

Where did you get your ash from? Was it beneficiated before arriving at your plant? My company recycles coal ash to be made into concrete.

[@michaeldowdy3176]

@@adeleennis2255 several different places Carbo Va., Charleston Wv., and at the end from Duke energy near Winston Salem NC. and for awhile from the TVA in Knoxville Tn. We also used micro silica a by product of the scrubbers as and additive to some products. We always had to get a sample and test it before we could use it the fines had to be right some coal just don’t make good flyash. If the EPA would ever test the soil where the tankers are pumped off at most concrete plants and found the high traces of heavy metals leeching into the groundwater I’m sure there would be heavy fines. I’ve seen it watered down to settle the dust and know where tons of it was just buried to hide a pile that has thousands of truckloads with more being added every year. Funny today 33 years ago I started working for them and not much has changed in the way they handle waste product.

[@michaeldowdy3176]

@@adeleennis2255 sorry I didn’t really answer your question our flyash was never in impoundment ponds. It’s straight from the power plant ground up and sold and must contain the right amount of fines. There are power plants closer but the flyash don’t pass testing.

[@fishman9240]

I live near a chemical plant , I can smell the toxic air

[@pertechnetyl]

Arsenic is not a heavy metal. It is a semi-metal. Chromium is also not a heavy metal. It is a light metal. All metals below iron in the periodic table are light elements. Also, toxic chromium is chromium(VI), which stands for a minute fraction of the coal-ash-contained chromium, which is mainly chromium(III).

[@Audreyreagan.s]

Why would it bring tears to your eyes about your kid being shocked there is heavy metals in the water?

[@Praylak]

The child understands why the water is poison and that it may be the cause of his illness. This reinforces the mothers guilt that she may have inadveretly been making her son sick. You see when your a parent, you are automaticly responisble for all things regarding your childrens well being. Its up to you and you alone to guarentee their saftey which is the parents primary purpose. Even if they are ignorrant of how or why it happens, failing at this is the ultimate failure.

[@paflyfish]

Thank you. Have always had concern about the air pollution that coal produces by mixing with water molecules in the atmosphere producing sulfuric acid to form acid rain. Coal ash is a whole 'nother form of pollution. We live in Pennsylvania, the state with the most coal fired power plants, so we have both issues.

[@Regg363]

The problem with these types of videos is the are produced by sources that are uninformed. And they make video full of DISINFORMATION and contain NO FACTS. You get two byproducts from electric generation using Coal, bottom ash and fly ash. Bottom ash is used as road base in country roads and interstate highways. The fly ash is used as an additive to concrete to make it more dense and increases its tensile strength. Or it is mixed with limestone and used to make gypsum or drywall. So this video like all the other leftist Marxist sources is again full of fact less disinformation. My source, I work for a coal generation plant for 35 yrs. So am the horse that this information comes from.

[@J.C...]

I don't understand how places still use coal. We've been on natural gas here since before the 1960s. Out of 123 SWEPCO power plants in this state, less than 10 are powered by coal.

[@alfredeneuman6966]

@@J.C... This is one answer I see. "Basically, coal is cheap, assuming you don't account for its significant health and environmental costs. Also, coal is widely available around the world, and relatively simple to transport and store." Regarding nearby Brunner Island coal fired plant, "In 2021, the facility produced 2.28 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) greenhouse gas emissions. This is the same climate impact as 491,312 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year." So... yeah!

[@lxmzhg]

Is the coal & it's ash, of the type that is used for burning in coal burning stoves used in the home, also toxic?

[@L0WKEYL0GAN]

20 billion! holy crap!

[@alanpepper5617]

When I read these comments I weep for humanity. The vast majority of comments display a total lack of critical and rationale thinking skills. Also evident is an astonishing lack of basic scientific literacy, even among the reporters who produced this piece. For example, coal refuse is not coal ash. The reporter has falsely conflated these two. Coal refuse is just the dirtiest, lowest energy materials that come from a mine. Burning these produces much more pollution per unit energy obtained. Further, adding lime to coal refuse to reduce polluting sulfur compounds produces extra CO2, beyond that produced from the combustion of the coal hydrocarbons.

[@alanpepper5617]

Sorry, "rational" not "rationale."

[@climbers1376]

bravo

[@frankiemendoza6526]

Is it accidentally, or usable still?

[@ADRIAN-kj1gj]

The reporter is bad in good way lol!!!

[@busterbeagle2167]

And you really think that little kid has a clear understanding of what heavy metals are

[@angelo1000r]

What about “Clean Coal” lol

[@Railfan9743]

The Jonny-A Show! Coal will never be clean.

[@lorainemccosker4975]

This is a great resource. I have heard these exact arguements from other coal plant employees. Time to be upset on this! Ridiculous!

[@joshuagibson2520]

Turn off your electricity in your home then. I bet yours is powered by coal.

[@eeterp32]

This problem is self-correcting. Coal pollution will kill off its customers thus diminishing the demand for electricity and putting these companies out of business.

[@mtadams2009]

The coal plant in my home town is now a solar farm. Coals days are numbered as natural gas is cheaper and you need far few people to run the power plant. Remember this when it comes to peoples safety money wins out every time.

[@mexikage2]

18:51 O.O!!!! That lady is wearing a Templar necklace send in the assassins!

[@martinluthierking]

"make coal great again!"- a Wilmington native

[@danielm9062]

You know this makes me wounded how much I breathed of this makes ash when I was a kid I lived in Akron Ohio at the time the big rubber co were in full run I can remember that in the winter the snow being gray tented from the big smoke stacks and they burnt coal man oh man

[@filipminigun]

dont like coal? turn off your heating, lighting, computer and all other electric items and see how much you like it

[@danielm9062]

Oh man oh man a freaking genius I'm talking about when I was a kid numb nuts when they didn't have the pollution controls that they have to day now things are different I would hope but Goodyear and Firestone and Goodrich didn't have the , emissions control that they have now so back in the 60.s there was soot from those stacks for miles around that's all I ment and to top it the rate of cancer was higher much higher but that how my dad and a lot of other dad's put food on the table cloths on there kids back and big ol Christmas under the tree so there ya go now you should understand I hope

[@puffintuff5181]

@orbdustFilms.. never heard of geothermal energy huh?

[@zecc81]

This problem is about concentration more than anything. The mentioned heavy metals are everywhere, but when substances like coal are mined and burnt in isolated areas the heavier compounds left behind become toxic from the high concentration. A way to evenly distribute the ash back into the landscape should eliminate the toxicity if done well. Key word "if"... Putting all the ash in one holding area/pond is asking for trouble. Same theory for oil and oil spills; the earth has always dealt with hydrocarbons, just not in the concentrations we humans can get it to. Managing waste cuts into profits though.

[@fakename34]

nice that I live near there and my town has plenty of coal mines

[@ON-YT]

yes we have a solar spills but they are mainly contain sunshine and rainbows. Not arsenic. You have a solar spill right now in the vid.

[@BlackParadeMarcher1]

where's Erin...

[@carlhorn1791]

me and my neighbor had well water ,no coal mines around ,and our water went bad when the turkey farm built here.

[@fcotrpc1967]

New business idea. Use coal ash to make toothpaste....

[@avail1.]

not just states....BUT COUNTRIES !!!!!!!

[@paronzoda]

" It can be seen from space" wtf??? Looks like a picture from google earth to me....

[@jona_KardCiv1]

The problem with Wind & Solar, is that when the wind because gentle or the sun isn't at peak, Fossil Fuels pick up the slack.

[@canaldofred2366]

Lets go nuclear then.

[@user-wr9xh6up5g]

วันนี้อนุลักษณ์สิ่งแวดล้อม

[@Gabberag]

7:30 Skylar?

[@TsarNicholasII5437]

I am really happy that I live in a country that doesn't have any coal plants

[@mn4a15]

Man the vice reporter is so beautiful!

[@afropunk902]

I agree, but is that really the only thing you took from this video?

[@mn4a15]

afropunk90 hey don't worry about it be cool bro. chill with the heavy vibes

[@DABEATBAKERZ]

holyinfantry999 😂😂😂😂

[@The_kookclub]

I live in Kingston.

[@senseph]

You're welcome, Vice... Reupload

[@TheWizardGamez]

doesn't it get turned into gypsum(aka drywall)

[@amyfox5191]

My question is why do you think the bottled water is any better.... x

[@delandamorris9027]

GOOOOOODDDDDDAAAAAAMMMMMIIIIIITTTTTT!!!!!!

[@nixxonmontgomery985]

Why didn't that family move? Only using bottled water is expensive and a hassle.

[@MarcLloydZ]

Why do they build it by water?

[@bakedbean37]

"Why do they build it by water?" Coal power stations are "steam engines". Those huge plumes coming from a coal power station are mostly water vapour.

[@user-kp5ps7gj8b]

Reporter is beautiful

[@aria.negoro.travels]

Likewise also in Indonesia; we have problems because of coal wastes. 😰

[@getprobed838]

cant they mix in concrete and build a building and it'll just be stuck in the concrete

[@puprilla]

Really!! Wtf

[@ricardodelgado644]

The blond lady at 7:40 is a great spinner.

[@demigodnz]

+Rick Morales shes a great bitch too

[@mrfaithandphysics]

Yeah. Guess who moved to Danville months before the spill. I hate this country sometimes. I love what it was made as. I hate what man has done to it.

[@thebamban1]

What is the name of the company that found the solution to the coal as hat the end?

[@shyampadhra1591]

Evans Burg Power

[@shyampadhra1591]

Ebensburg power*

[@jamesmiller4054]

Why did they create a horribly dangerous substance before they new how to deal with it?

[@learnedhand7647]

Arsenic, hexavalent chromium, uranium... they have never harmed anyone. It's natural! Like "clean coal!"

[@Robersora]

They totally should have used Toxic from Britney in this documentary.

[@Sanerah]

funny how that women says at the end elements cant be changed, she obviously has no clue of chemistry...

[@fraserdavidson6900]

Well the elements stay the same, but they are recombined, into a totally chemically different substance. ie: Complete combustion of Ethane; 2C2H6 + 7O2 + Heat = 4CO2 + 6H2O Ethane + Oxygen + Heat = Carbon dioxide + Water

[@dhcamper]

The Romans Used Volcanic ash as an additive to their cement. This made it acidic and led to greater longevity by preventing plant growth on its surface. Concrete already has numerous artificial polymer additives to improve it in various respects; some of which are toxic. Why don't US Power Companies Simply sell their coal ash as a Concrete additive? Would profit the companies whilst providing a means of disposal that while imperfect, would still be a significant improvement over the current policy.

[@ginadelsasso288]

Why are so many people still drinking well water? I know... City water like in flint michigan isnt any better but still. Why are so many not hooked up to city water?

[@poasacracco]

they should turn it into cinder blocks

[@SharonD369]

I see a bad moon a-rising , I see trouble on the way.

[@IVAN-sf9ht]

Do I smell cosmoline?

[@TomHarper1997]

Duke energy make a good point about advocacy groups using emotional heart throbbing and local communities to swing opinion. What do vice news do go and speak to a child and his mother and then she says 'doesnt it break your heart".

[@delandamorris9027]

Absolutely not knocking the the choice to move to bottled water. I would do the same thing but this alteration perpetuates yet another destructive cycle. Now they are spending extra money on something they should already have and they are forced to introduce thousands of plastic bottles into the environment. I guess that's good for Nestle at least.....guess

[@donaldrodgers8389]

This Duke Energy woman is paid to say what she's saying.She would change her tune if her own drinking water was contaminated.She won't tell the truth in fear for losing her high paid job.I not afraid of these company's because I'm not chained to them like this woman is.They should dump the waste in her back yard to see how she feels about it.I mean no disrespect on her and her company.But the facts are there.Dont hide behind a wad of cash.Open your eyes.Because if anything happens the company will use her as a fall person to place the blame on.

[@jimihand]

"Yes we're polluting and discharging into the river but only a little bit, I mean it's illegal but a little bit never hurt nothin right?" That's what I heard

[@Railfan9743]

James Hand well what you hear is wrong. There are billions of tons produced every day.

[@morgomyster0man]

Its not just america with this problem it is the whole world. All countries use coal power plants and increasing the future problems we're going to have to face. Thats the bigger picture lets hope we can work together to fix it as soon as possible