FREE AppalachianThe October/November 2015VOICE Are we there yet? The future of transportation is right around the bend — it’s just a matter of getting there. Also Inside: The Urban Coyote | Biking Appalachia’s Rails-to-Trails | Vaughn’s Diesel EDITED TheAppalachianVOICE A note from the executive director Amy Brown is a mother of two living in Belmont, N.C., near a Duke Energy coal-fired power Environmental News From Around the Region A publication of plant and two giant coal ash pits. This spring, the state health department warned her not to use AppalachianVoices her tap water for drinking or cooking because of contamination. The Browns—one of more than 300 households to get such warnings—are now living on bottled water. Read more about their Common Connections: An Appalachian- Bear Population Rises, Human Encounters Follow NC: 171 Grand Blvd., Boone, NC 28607 • 828-262-1500 VA: 812 East High Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902 • 434-293-6373 experience on page 17. By W. Spencer King that is habituating them to humans. Other Regional Offices: Knoxville, TN • Norton, VA • Raleigh, NC Romanian Exchange The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Toxins found in coal ash like arsenic and hexavalent chromium can have dangerous health con- According to the N.C. Wildlife like speed dating,” says Melissa Rhodes Agency in Polk County is attempting to AppalachianVoices.org |
[email protected] sequences when they leak into water supplies, and a recent study shows the ash can be five times By W. Spencer King Resources Commission, the number of more radioactive than average U.S. soil.