A group of green NGOs in America have filed a lawsuit under the country's Freedom of Information Act to force the Environmental Protection Agency to release details of 70 major wet coal ash storage sites nationwide.
The move comes as the first anniversary of the major spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's impoundment at Harriman which saw a billion gallons of coal ash sludge released to engulf 120ha.
A number of major power companies have asked the Agency to withhold the information as confidential and the NGOs are asking a federal district court to force its publication.
The groups, the Sierra Club, Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project, say the release is vital to health and safety of those living near the sites.
"Most utilities have already provided EPA with exactly the same data that Duke, First Energy and the Southern Company subsidiaries are trying to keep the public from seeing," said EIP executive director Eric Schaeffer.
"Their attempts to hide the size of their ash ponds and other relevant information are absurd, and ought to be quickly rejected by EPA."
The Agency has already released data showing there are more than 70 such sites in 35 states and most are over 30 years old. The objectors say the oldest also offer the least protection.
"In a few weeks, EPA will take the unprecedented step of proposing a nationwide rule governing coal ash disposal," said Earthjustice attorney Todd True.
"The public needs to have all the relevant information about the largest toxic waste ponds in the US - not only to protect their communities - but to participate meaningfully in the upcoming rule making."
The groups say the Agency has identified 49 impoundments as high hazard sites and point out they contain significant levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and other contaminants.
