Coal Ash Lawsuits: Soil Contamination in Mooresville, NC?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are investigating whether a class action lawsuit can be filed in light of reports that homes in Mooresville, North Carolina and other towns in the Lake Norman region may have been built on toxic coal ash.

Specifically, they’re looking into concerns that residents could be at a higher risk of health problems due to power company Duke Energy’s sale of coal ash to developers for use as a filler material in new construction. Coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal to produce electricity, contains dangerous toxins like arsenic, heavy metals and radium that are known to cause cancer and other serious health effects.

The attorneys believe many homeowners would not have purchased their properties had they known the soil may have been contaminated with coal ash—and a lawsuit may be able to help these homeowners get money back.

Reports: Soil Contamination from Coal Ash Could Present Health Risks

Coal ash, one of the most prevalent types of industrial waste in the United States, has been used for decades by developers and landowners as “structural fill,” essentially a soil substitute for new construction—but a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that the use of coal ash on residential sites could potentially endanger residents’ health.

Specifically, the report suggested that chemical contaminants found in coal ash—which can include arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium and radium, among others—can potentially leach into the groundwater and end up in a home’s drinking water supply. Further, gamma rays or radon gas from coal ash can pass through the soil and directly expose residents to harmful radiation, the report found.

Exposure to even low amounts of arsenic and radiation can increase a person’s risk of developing cancer, and the EPA found that soil containing only 1% to 2% coal ash can present an elevated cancer risk.

In December 2023, more than 150 groups sent a letter to the EPA demanding that the agency define the full range of health risks associated with coal ash, investigate possible locations of coal ash in residential areas, prohibit its use as structural fill, and issue a public advisory recommending that coal ash not be used in residential areas. The groups noted that there are currently no federal restrictions on coal ash placement for volumes of less than 12,400 tons.

Coal Ash Use in Mooresville, NC Raises Concerns

WCNC Charlotte, a local NBC affiliate, reported in July 2024 that Mooresville alone contains hundreds of thousands of tons of coal ash, with much of it concentrated near Duke Energy’s Marshall Steam Station. According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEC), the use of coal ash as structural fill was not required to be reported to the agency until 1994, meaning there is possibly much more in the state than data currently shows.

According to a September 2024 Wall Street Journal article, North Carolina records show 350,000 tons of coal ash under a Mooresville Lowe’s, 100,000 tons under a daycare and 54,000 tons under apartments near a high school—all of which was supplied by Duke Energy. The utility reportedly received a permit to sell coal ash to developers in 1989 and had sold 2.1 million tons by 1997.

Residents began to raise concerns about the presence of coal ash in Mooresville and the surrounding area after a 2019 report indicated that the thyroid cancer rate in the 28117 ZIP Code was triple that of the rest of the state from 2012 to 2016. Though the report noted that there are no published studies linking coal ash to thyroid cancer, one resident whose 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed with the disease believes there is a link, the Journal reported. The woman said she learned that 16 other Lake Norman High School students and graduates were diagnosed with cancer between 2013 and 2019.

WCNC Charlotte had testing performed on samples collected from an area near a Mooresville daycare, reporting in September 2024 that the samples contained arsenic levels more than 69 times higher than North Carolina’s soil remediation goals and nearly 13 times higher than the levels found in natural soil. Radium levels in the soil exceeded the EPA’s cleanup standard and were, on average, more than four times higher than natural levels in North Carolina soil, the news outlet reported. The Duke University professor who analyzed the samples said the situation is “problematic” and “needs to be mitigated as soon as possible” due to the potential health risks.

Duke Energy Lawsuit Claims Coal Ash Exposure Caused Cancer

In late September 2024, a Sherrills Ford resident filed a lawsuit against Duke Energy, claiming exposure to an unlined coal ash basin at the utility’s Marshall Steam Station caused her cancer.

The woman said in the lawsuit that she was diagnosed with kidney cancer after living near the power plant for eight years and was unaware that coal ash is toxic and unsafe.

The case accuses Duke Energy of “knowingly dumping coal ash near residential and commercial areas” and “deliberately withholding crucial information about the dangers of coal ash.”

How Could a Class Action Lawsuit Help?

A class action lawsuit, if filed and successful, could help homeowners get back some of the money they spent on properties that may contain soil contaminated with coal ash.

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