"We actually have stronger regulations for basic municipal trash
[landfills] than for coal-ash combustible waste products," notes
Chandra Taylor, an attorney with the North Carolina office of
the Southern Environmental Law Center. In the state's nearly
400-page statute detailing how solid waste must be managed,
there's a one-line exemption for the ash that's left over when
coal is burned to create energy, says Taylor. Coal ash contains
a mix of substances, ranging from silica to arsenic. The latter
element is carcinogenic -- particularly when inhaled or ingested
-- according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And
though landfills must be lined to prevent such toxic chemicals
from leaching out and contaminating ground and surface waters,
coal-ash ponds are exempt. The state law also includes detailed
guidelines for where landfills can be located (no floodplains,
for example). But coal-ash ponds face no such restrictions --
and like the power plants that produce the ash, the on-site
ponds are usually