Four sites in state have no coal ash spill hazard rating

AROUND MISSISSIPPI — Four years after a massive coal ash spill in East Tennessee, environmental conservation groups have launched an interactive website and map that shows the location and hazard risks for coal ash sites at 100 power plants throughout the Southeast.

The website, www.southeastcoalash.org, is a project of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Appalachian Voices, Southern Environmental Law Center and NC Conservation Network.

Since the 2008 spill of 5 million cubic yards of ash into a river about 35 miles west of Knoxville, environmentalists have been increasingly sounding an alarm about coal ash, a waste byproduct stored at coal-fired plants, and the possibility of water contamination.

The site lists details on power plants, the size of their coal ash containments, as well as available risk assessments by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The website lists four sites in Mississippi. The EPA has not issued a hazard rating on any of the sites, according to the website. The four sites are the Red Hills Generation Facility, R.D. Morrow Senior Generating Plant, Daniel Electric Generating Plant and Plant Jack Watson.