A special segment for Detroit Public Television’s public affairs program, “One Detroit,” features Great Lakes Now’s collaborative reporting project about coal ash.
A toxic substance, coal ash is what’s left over after burning coal. While the use of coal is declining across the Great Lakes region, the ash that remains from decades of producing energy with it is a problem. It’s stored in ponds that can leak and spill coal ash into drinking water sources and the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now partnered with the Energy News Network and journalism students from the Chicago Investigative Project at Northwestern University, who wrote a series of stories about the coal ash issue. They were guided by their instructor, Kari Lydersen, who writes for Great Lakes Now and appears with GLN Host Ward Detwiler in this One Detroit segment.
You can find the full project HERE.
Meanwhile, here’s the video from the One Detroit program:
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Featured image: Even as coal plants around the country have closed in high numbers, coal ash is left behind and there’s nearly a billion tons of the toxic material. By nature, these coal plants are usually near water, and the leftover coal ash can leach into groundwater affecting drinking water for nearby residents. (Photo Credit: GLN)
