Alabama Power Must Safely Move Its Coal Ash at Plant Barry

Mobile County, AL -- This month, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) is accepting public comments about Alabama Power’s plans to “cap-in-place” 21 million tons of coal ash at Plant Barry near Mobile. The deadline for public comment submissions is April 6 at 5 p.m. CST.

Alabama Power’s preferred choice to “cap-in-place” means that coal ash will continue to be stored on site just off the banks of a low-lying meander of the Mobile River in an unlined pit. There will be a synthetic or earthen barrier covering the top, which still allows toxic contaminants to leach into groundwater below and through the sides of the pit. Additionally, this approach does not require the proper monitoring needed to measure the migration of contaminated groundwater into adjacent surface waters and wetlands.

Alabama Power’s own testing shows that the coal ash site at Plant Barry is already leaking and contaminating groundwater above the legal limit. Coal ash contamination is detrimental to our health and environment. Some of the toxins in the coal ash at Barry include arsenic, mercury, lead, and cobalt. Tests revealed that arsenic levels in groundwater at the site were 806% higher than the legal limit.

The Alabama Sierra Club and Beyond Coal Campaign strongly encourage the public to send comments to ADEM to push for the removal of coal ash at Plant Barry from unlined, leaking pits to dry, lined, modern storage solutions away from our waterways. Additionally, Alabama Power should use its power and resources to find locations and methods for removing the coal ash that do not risk impacting communities with further coal ash contamination - ideally, storing the coal ash on Alabama Power property away from waterways and communities.

Utilities across the southeast have already committed to fully and safely excavating coal ash. Earlier this year in North Carolina, Duke Energy was mandated to fully excavate all coal ash pits in the state and pay for a portion of the cleanup costs. Full excavation and removal is becoming standard practice, and Alabama Power should follow the lead of other states and utilities. 

Email your comments to: permitsmail@adem.alabama.gov no later than April 6 at 5 p.m CST.

Or submit your comments by mail:
Russell A. Kelly, Chief
Permits and Services Division
ADEM
1400 Coliseum Blvd.
[Mailing address: PO Box 301463; Zip 36130-1463]
Montgomery, Alabama 36110-2400

Carol Adams-Davis, leader of the Mobile Bay Sierra Club group, issued the following statement:

“For over 50 years Alabama Power has irresponsibly dumped over 21 million tons of toxic coal ash into a pond in the floodplain of the Mobile River. Alabama Power’s push to ‘cap-in-place’ this unlined coal ash pond at Plant Barry puts our Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, our Mobile Bay, our health, our economy, and our future generations at risk. Alabama Power enjoys a hefty, guaranteed profit paid for by us - one of the highest in the entire nation. All of us have to use electricity in our daily lives, which means we all should have a say in how Alabama Power deals with its waste.”

“Many southern utilities are successfully excavating the coal ash from storage ponds and relocating it to dry, lined landfills away from rivers and waterways. Of course it will be costly to move the coal ash away from the Mobile River today, but a toxic coal ash disaster will be a far greater cost in the future, if we do not force Alabama Power to do the right thing now! Gulf Coast hurricanes, extreme weather events, and flooding are becoming more common and destructive. How can one industry be allowed to potentially take away the quality of all life in coastal Alabama?”