Texas regulators have helped struggling coal companies avoid expensive land restoration costs by allowing them to do the bare minimum. The result: potentially thousands of acres across Texas are contaminated with toxic chemicals.
An investigation by The Texas Tribune and Grist shows that regulators in the Lone Star State have given a hand up to struggling coal companies as they face millions of dollars in mandated land restoration costs. Full Story
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Alcoa has put its shuttered Sandow Mine site on the market for $250 million, advertising it as a country paradise. Testing has found that groundwater under a landfill in the middle of the property is contaminated with toxic heavy metals. Full Story
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Sulphur Springs leaders say they want Luminant — Texas’ largest electricity generator — to leave in place a 120-foot-tall mound of excavated dirt at the site of a shuttered coal mine so they can build an amphitheater. But the soil contains potentially dangerous materials, according to state regulators. Full Story
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