Rural Alabama Community to Become Dumping Ground for Coal Ash.

[irishbobcat]

Rural Alabama Community to Become Dumping Ground for Coal Ash. By Jay Reeves, AP, July 17, 2009. "Perry County [poor, even by Alabama standards] will be the final resting place for millions of tons of dredged coal ash from an environmental disaster 300 miles away. The first freight trains loaded with the gray muck, containing toxic elements such as arsenic and lead, are rumbling into the 976-acre municipal landfill that's allowed to take trash from 16 states. Officials say the landfill will generate more than $3 million for the county by accepting coal ash from a Dec. 22 ash spill at a TVA plant in Kingston, Tenn. The spill covered some 300 acres of Tennessee countryside with ash, and officials estimate it could take as many as 35,000 railroad car loads to transport the dredged waste to Alabama. The cleanup will cost about $1 billion. Critics like farmer Robert Bamberg accuse local elected leaders of selling out an entire county for short-term gain."