COAL ASH FACTS
After an Alabama Public Radio story of our community's fight for the complete removal of Plant Barry’s coal ash, compassionate and visionary leaders sought out to visually tell Sallie's story. With Daniel Junge and Allison Bohl-Dehart as the film's producers, and Brennan Robideaux as director, this incredibly talented crew created the powerful 40-minute documentary short, Sallie's Ashes, honoring the extraordinary life and legacy of the Coal Ash Action Group's founder, Sallie Smith. Premiering at the Telluride Film Festival and making its Alabama debut at the 2025 Fairhope Film Festival, the film chronicles Sallie's passion and commitment to fighting for the health of the Mobile Bay, even while battling terminal cancer. It documents her founding of the South Alabama Coal Ash Action Group and how she led the final, vital effort to rally our community and demand the removal of the toxic coal ash pit that threatens our beloved Bay. We are proud to share this tribute to her unstoppable spirit and the essential movement she began.
ESSENTIAL BARRY PLANT COAL ASH FACTS
Coal ash at Plant Barry is polluting the groundwater and Mobile River with toxic heavy metals and will continue to pollute if ash is not removed.
Coal ash spills have happened in similar facilities devastating surrounding waterways,
local communities, and aquatic life. The Plant Barry pond is situated in a precarious site next to the Mobile River and the Delta making it susceptible to breach by a hurricane or heavy flooding upriver.
Other utilities in the southeast, including Georgia Power, are economically removing 250 million tons of coal ash thus protecting their cities and rivers. Alabamians deserve the same.
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America’s Most Endangered Rivers 2022 (americanrivers.org)
#3. MOBILE RIVER—COAL ASH POLUTION
Every Alabama Power customer state-wide is currently paying $4.49 per month for closure of ash ponds. Alabama Power says it is too expensive to remove the 21 million tons of ash. In Virginia, customers are paying $3.23 a month to dig up and relocate 27 million tons of coal ash.
21M
21 million tons of toxic ash currently at Plant Barry
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*20 times the volume of oil spilled in the BP Oil Disaster
0
Effective
Cap-in-Place sites below the
water table
$1.2M
Alabama Power fines for existing groundwater violations
3
Ranking 3rd in America's Most Endangered Rivers
Why is Coal Ash Harmful?
Coal ash is a toxic byproduct of coal-burning power plants. It contains heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, and cobalt among others. The Barry Plant coal ash pond sits within the flood plain of the Mobile River. It is unlined and covers an area equal to 451 football fields, containing 21 million tons of coal ash sludge. In many places it is within 200 yards of the river, with only a dike made of dirt, clay, and coal ash separating it from the river. If there were a major rainfall event or a hurricane near the site, the dike could be breached, and according to Alabama Power’s Emergency Action plan, the coal ash sludge would cover 30 square miles of the delta and flow down the Mobile River towards the bay.
ACT NOW!
Protecting our Communities from Toxic Coal Ash
The Barry coal ash lagoon is currently contaminating groundwater with arsenic and cobalt according to Alabama Power reports from 2018 continuing up to the latest report in 2022.
Tests revealed that arsenic levels in groundwater at the Barry site were 806% higher than the legal limit. Long-term exposure can lead to liver damage, kidney damage, cardiac arrhythmia, and a variety of cancers, such as leukemia from ionizing radiation.
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Alabama Power used a "cap in place" to close the coal ash pond at the Gadsden plant. After closure, ground watering monitoring data shows pollution levels of arsenic that are 10,000% above the legal limit and 50% greater for radium.
What happens when coal ash gets into the water supply?
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Over time, heavy metals in the ash can escape into nearby waterways and contaminate drinking water. Exposure to coal ash is linked with a heightened risk for cancer as well as heart damage, reproductive problems, neurological disorders, and other serious health conditions.
(Union of Concerned Citizens, 2017) https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/coal-and-water-pollution
Toxic Waste on Site
Unsafe Readings Above Legal Limit
Plant Barry On-Site
Monitoring Wells
REPORT CARD:
SOUTHEASTERN UTILITIES COAL ASH REMOVAL
Other utilities in the southeast, including Georgia Power, are economically removing 250 million tons of coal ash thus protecting their cities and rivers. Alabamians deserve the same.
State | Grade | Status |
|---|---|---|
Coal ash spills have happened in similar facilities devastating surrounding waterways, local communities, and aquatic life.
"Citizens and environmental groups across the Southeast have long been concerned by the possibility of coal ash spills. The vulnerability of coal ash pits became clear in 2008 when a Kingston, Tennessee dam containing an 84-acre ash pit failed. It filled nearby rivers with more than 5.4 million cubic yards' of coal ash and covered 300 acres. The clean-up took nearly a decade, and the monetary cost was one billion dollars. But there was a cost to human life as well. The toxicity of the Kingston coal ash was later found to have caused the sickness, and even death, of dozens of people participating in the cleanup effort. 3 Since 2008, coal ash has spilled at several ponds around the nation. Each spill pollutes nearby rivers, endangers the health of downstream communities, and damages local economies."
(Source: Mobile Baykeeper)
BEFORE
AFTER
waysyou canhelp
We need your voice! Your involvement has a huge impact even in the smallest of ways. To help us get the word out about the need for safer regulations on coal ash, there are several ways you can get involved.
CALL FOR LETTERS
Please consider sending a letter to Alabama Power decision-makers.
Alabama Power’s plan to “manage” this environmental threat is to leave the coal ash in the same location with modifications. However, cancer causing elements would continue to leak out and pollute the groundwater, and should the dike system fail, the ensuing environmental pollution in the delta, river, and bay would be 20 times greater than that caused by the BP oil spill on Alabama's coast in 2010.
Mail your letter to
these Contacts:
Jeff Peoples, Chairman
President and CEO
Alabama Power Company
1802 6th Ave N
Birmingham, AL 35203
Susan B. Comensky
Vice President Environmental Affairs
1802 6th Ave N
Birmingham, AL 35203
Angus R. Cooper II
Chairman of Board, AL Power
118 N Royal St. #1100
Mobile, AL 36602
Chris Womack
President and CEO Southern Company
30 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
OUR MISSION: To protect our community and environment from further coal ash pollution.
The disposal pond at Plant Barry is polluting the groundwater and Mobile River with toxic heavy metals and will continue to pollute if ash is not removed. The Plant Barry pond is situated in a precarious site next to the Mobile River and the Delta making it susceptible to breach by a hurricane or flood. We work towards the safe disposal of coal ash and the implementation of protective regulations. ​