The Trump administration is championing a revitalization of the coal industry and has proposed massive cuts to renewable energy research as a way to boost the economy, create jobs, and end the “war on coal”. While mining... [ view full abstract ]
The Trump administration is championing a revitalization of the coal industry and has proposed massive cuts to renewable energy research as a way to boost the economy, create jobs, and end the “war on coal”. While mining practices like mountaintop removal and health impacts such as the resurgence of black lung have received scholarly attention (Austin and Clark 2011; Bodenhamer 2016, 2017), a dearth of critical research exists with regards to the immediate and long term socio-ecological impacts of coal ash. Our paper considers the historically situated conditions of coal waste storage in greater Appalachia, and utilizes the Dan River spill in North Carolina as a flashpoint to illustrate a concrete case of the disaster potential embedded within the social metabolic order of extractive industries.
With a social metabolic order dominated by the coal industry, the mutually embedded human and ecological systems across greater Appalachia have suffered, and this is no more apparent than when one considers the aftermath of a coal ash pond spill. Our analysis begins with an overview of the socio-ecological conditions of the region and how they relate to our case example of the Dan River spill. Then, following Wishart’s (2012) example in his analysis of a mountain top removal case study, we unpack the Dan River spill by establishing vantage points from which our theoretical analysis can depart. We conclude with a synthesizing discussion and suggestions for further research.
Coal ash is the inorganic waste left behind during the coal combustion and represents the largest source of industrial waste in the United States. Coal ash storage now occurs primarily through coal ash waste ponds. In early February of 2014 a pipe running under a coal ash waste pond at a NC Duke Energy facility burst dumping more than 82,000 tons of coal ash into the river ecosystem. After the spill, debates arose over the risks associated with all 30 coal ash ponds in the state, including a federal investigation into the relationship between Duke Energy and North Carolina’s environmental regulation agency. Residents were left to sort through a host of contradicting information from industry and the state on impacts to the river ecosystem and human health. Ultimately, the state passed the Coal Ash Management Act in attempt to categorize the 30 ponds in North Carolina, leaving public officials and residents to question if these measures can prevent future disasters.
We use social metabolic theory to analyze the Dan River Spill from the vantage points of socio-ecology, the state, and industry. Drawing on publicly available documents from local media, citizen groups, environmental non-profits, state environmental regulatory agencies, and industry, we provide an analysis of post-spill response rhetoric. In doing so we demonstrate the shortsightedness of relying on short-term economic growth models without a full consideration of the negative impacts and disaster potential for communities and ecosystems.
