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The Stentorian | NCSSM News October 2014 NC State Legislature, Duke Energy flub Dan River coal ash recovery By Sierra Dunne Editor-in-Chief Duke Energy came under fire for a coal ash spill that occurred earlier in February of this year. A broken stormwater pipe under a coal ash pond emptied over 39,000 tons of the hazardous waste into the Dan River in Eden, NC. Duke Energy claims the ruptured pipes have been permanently sealed but the consequences of the spill are far deeper. The ash came from a pond at a retired Duke Energy coal plant. Between the six other retired plants across NC and seven others which remain operational, there are over 50 coal ash impoundments which can hold up to 19 billion gallons of waste, according to the EPA. Environmental organiza tions have spoken out against the way Duke Energy manages their impoundments. Over half of them were built before 1994 and are not required to have caps, pollution liners, or con duct groundwater monitoring. These practices are hazard ous to local communities, as the ponds often leak toxins which can find their way into drinking wa ter. The Dan River spill sparked new legisla tion concerning these ash ponds, which led a coal ash management law to come into effect in September. This law states that Duke Energy is required to clean up their unprotected ponds at four priority sites, including the one which contaminated the Dan River. However, envi ronmentalists believe this law is not enough to protect local com munities irom the hazardous waste these impoundments are producing. There are still 10 other sites with coal ash ponds and the new law gives l3uke a timeline of 15 years to get rid of these, even though a Wake County Superior Court Judge ordered we know that every single one of these unlined coal ash ponds in the state is leaking and has contaminated groundwater,” stated Rick Gaskins, executive Duke Power engineers survey the site of the Feb. 2 coal ash spill, where an estimated 140,000 tons of toxic waste is still unaccountedfor. Environmental groups and Duke Power have differing claims on affected ground water. the company to clean up their ponds immediately in March. “One of the biggest con cerns we have with the law is director of the Catawba River- keeper Foundation. All 14 coal plants owned by Duke Energy in NC, those both in and out of operation, have coal ash ponds that leak carcinogens such as arsenic into water reservoirs. Since the law allows for cleanup to extend over a period of several years, these toxins would still be a risk to water quality for years to come. The Dan River spill serves as an example of just how much work Duke Finergy is putting into clean ing up the ash, as only 10% of the leak has been re moved over the past eight months. Without proper legislature to keep companies like Duke responsible for their ac tions, environmentalists be lieve there is no hope to keep NC’s water clean. Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Malala Yousafzai, Kailish Satyarthi By Joe Wiswell staff Writer From the Taliban controlled schools of Pakistan to the rug weavers of India, the latest Nobel Peace Prize sends a message of freedom to all comers of the world. This year the Nobel Committee awarded the prize to a Pakistani, Malala Yousafzai, and anlndian, Kailish Satyarthi, “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” This comes at a significant time given the recent fighting on the Pakistani-Indian border. India and Pakistan have been longstanding rivals, but a 2003 cease-fire ended most armed stmggles in the disputed region of Kashmir. With this violence flaring up again in August, this year’s Peace Price comes with an em phasis on the universality of slavery and education. The prize is deeply reminis cent of Mahatma Gandhi, who supported the idea of a unified Pakistan and India and the abo lition of the Hindu Caste sys tem. Satyarthi cites Gandhi as inspiration for his campaign to free slaves, most of whom are members of the untouchable caste. Satyarthi’s campaign be gan in 1980 when he left his Job as an electrical engineer. Since then, through a mixture of grassroots and top-down ap proaches, he has rescued tens of thousands of children from slavery. One of his foremost achievements is the Global March Against Child Poverty which units non governmental organizations, trade unions, teachers and stu dents from all over the world to fight child labor. He also founded Good- weave, an or ganization that inspects Indian rug factories to ensure no child labor was used in the production of their carpets. All vetted prod ucts are given a seal to remind consumers to be conscious of in justice while they shop. He is also on UNESCO’s board for Edu cation for All, co-founder of Yousafazi (left) and Satyarthi (right) have both contributed to fostering peace in Pakistan and India and The Global Cam- according to the Nobel Peace Prize committe, ‘for their struggle against the suppression of children and paign for Educa- young people and for the right of all children to education. ” tion, and leads Peace Prize winner ever, 17-year-old Malala has already dramatically altered the way people think about education in developing nations. It started in 2009 when Yousafzai began writing an anonymous diary about the Taliban’s takeover of her town. In it, she recounts the suppres sion of women and education. It was published by the BBC and widely received in Paki stan. raids on slave holding facto ries, often at great personal risk. Satyarthi is at the head of revolution to create a kinder India and is doing this through youth, going after those who have the imagination and time to transform a society. While Satyarthi has had no direct contact with Malala Yousafzai, she is an excellent example of what he hopes to achieve. The youngest Nobel However, it also attracted threats from the Taliban and in 2011 Yousafzai was shot on hpr way home from school. She was treated in a hospital in London and survived but has not been able to return home because of further threats. Since then she has contin ued her education in London. Often citing her father as mo tivation for her campaign, she was one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People, she has appeared in Vanity Fair and has written an autobiog raphy, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize and the work it recog nizes mean more than just a struggle for education or the relationship between Pakistan and India. It represents prog ress of developing nations and their positive look into the fu ture.
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