Our Stories

The Latest by Lisa Evans

Senior Counsel

October 9, 2024

Toxic Coal Ash Used in Neighborhoods Poses Health Risks Even Decades Later

By Lisa Evans & Caroline Weinberg  /  Clean Energy Program

The use of toxic coal ash as a substitute for clean soil in construction and landscaping remains largely unregulated despite the risks.

August 24, 2023

EPA announces that cleaning up coal ash will be a top priority for enforcement

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

EPA acknowledges widespread noncompliance from coal-fired power plant owners.

Andrew Rehn, right, of the Prairie Rivers Network and Lan Richart of Eco-Justice Collaborative paddle past toxic coal ash waste seepage on the Vermilion River in Illinois.
October 1, 2020

Leaking and Looming, Legacy Coal Ash Ponds Spew Poisons. Is There One Near You?

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

Despite a court order, Trump’s EPA is dragging its feet on regulating this toxic threat.

August 29, 2018

Huge Win for Communities Threatened by Toxic Coal Pollution

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

A landmark court decision requires the EPA to significantly increase protections for more than 850 coal ash ponds.

The groundwater beneath the Tennessee Valley Authority's coal-fired Allen Fossil Plant in southwest Memphis—only two miles from the city's drinking water supply—is contaminated with dangerously high amounts of arsenic and lead.
July 19, 2017

Walking in Memphis—Just Feet Above a Coal Ash Cesspool

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

Residents of Memphis just learned about major groundwater contamination. Cities across America could be facing the same problem, but won’t know about it if the EPA gives in to utilities.

Jens Lambert/Shutterstock
April 20, 2016

Will Fracking-Induced Earthquakes Cause the Next Coal Ash Disaster?

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

Fracking-induced earthquakes and unstable coal ash dams are a deadly combination.

Nenad Zivkovic/Shutterstock
April 14, 2016

Earthjustice Victory Offers New Hope for Communities Living with Coal Ash

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

A court has ordered the EPA to create financial assurance rules, providing hope to communities living near coal ash lagoons that companies will pay to clean up their toxic spills.

February 3, 2016

Ceniza de Carbón: Un Problema de Derechos Civiles

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

La EPA de no proteger a los Americanos de grupos minoritarios o de bajos recursos de la contaminación por la ceniza de carbón.

Coal ash industrial waste
February 3, 2016

Coal Ash: A Civil Rights Issue

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

The EPA has a well-documented problem with allowing coal ash waste to pile up in low-income communities of color.

A coal ash spill on the Dan River in North Carolina in 2014.
September 30, 2015

Feds Seek Informants on Duke's Spreading Coal Ash Threats

By Lisa Evans  /  Clean Energy Program

Duke Energy, responsible for a massive coal ash spill in North Carolina last year, is finally opening up about pollution and structural problems at its other ash ponds nationwide, but the truth may need some more coaxing.