"The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says coal ash ponds and landfills disproportionately affect poor and minority communities across the U.S. But that’s not what North Carolina officials found when they conducted their own “environmental justice reviews” of two sites this year.

Duke Energy faces a 2019 deadline to move coal ash from existing pits to new, lined landfills at some North Carolina coal plants. It's already applied for permits at two - Dan River in Eden and the Sutton plant in Wilmington.

Landfills like these are often in poor and minority areas, particularly in the South, says Therese Vick, a community organizer with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League."

David Boraks reports for WFAE (NPR Charlotte) September 28, 2016. [2]