"Hundreds Protest Dominion’s Plans to Drain Coal Ash Ponds into James River"

Eight people were arrested for trespassing on the Capitol steps Saturday, following a rowdy march of environmental activists against Dominion Power’s plans to release treated water from coal ash ponds into the James River...  Dominion [part of Dominion Resources] plans to build [the Atlantic Coast Pipeline] across western Virginia to carry natural gas. Many environmentalists oppose the pipeline as well as the company’s plans for disposing of coal ash... 

According to the organization’s pamphlet, “spreading toxic coal ash throughout our communities and poisoning our water is not a solution. The [Virginia Department of Environmental Quality] must repeal these discharge permits immediately and rewrite them to ensure that Dominion complies with their own promises to treat the wastewater to drinking quality standards.”

Representatives for Dominion said that there has been misinformation about the coal ash issue. “No coal ash will be released into Virginia’s waterways. In fact, our plan is designed to safeguard against that,” said Janell Hancock...[of] Dominion Virginia Power... Hancock added: “We are committed to keeping the public informed about this important project, including regularly posting information about the plan on our website at https://www.dom.com/coalash..."