This meeting will educate citizens on the dangers of groundwater contamination from over 4 million tons of toxic coal ash at the closed Robinson coal-fired electric generation plant on Lake Robinson in Hartsville. The coal ash sits in unlined pits 18 feet into the groundwater. Results from recent tests show that arsenic contamination in the groundwater that flows into Lake Robinson exceeds 1000 parts per billion — more than 100 times the state standard.
In the 1980s and ’90s, low level radioactive waste was dumped into the unlined pit, further contaminating the ash and water. Participants will call on Duke Energy to commit to a common-sense solution to the problem: move the coal ash to lined, dry storage away from public waters. South Carolina utilities, including Duke Energy, are doing this at every single coal ash sites in our state — except Duke Energy’s Robinson site in Darlington County.
Representatives from the Coastal Conservation League, the Southern Environmental Law Center, River Keepers and other organizations will speak at the meeting.