Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Small But Vocal Crowd Opposes Eden Coal Ash Disposal Plan

The state held a public hearing Wednesday night on the proposed plan for coal ash disposal near the Dan River spill. Attendance was light in Eden, but opinions were strong.

About 42 people showed up to the hearing, one of several being held by the state Department of Environmental Quality.

DEQ is reviewing Duke Energy's plans for the timeline and method to clean up coal ash across the state.

The News and Record of Greensboro reports the majority of speakers opposed the plan to build a lined landfill in their community.

Distrust of the utility was a theme echoed by many of those who spoke.

They told officials Duke knew or should have known that its underground drainage network needed repair before coal ash was spilled into the Dan River.

Speakers also denounced the prospect that Eden might become a dumping ground for waste from other communities.

Officials reassured attendees that Duke Energy says the facility will only accept ash stored at the shuttered Eden plant.

DEQ is holding its next public hearing Thursday night in Danbury, to discuss waste from the Belews Creek station.

 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate