Coal ash ponds are not simply an issue for the communities where they are located. They are a statewide concern, and Alabama should be treating them with the urgency they deserve.

At Plant Barry, a catastrophic failure of a coal ash storage facility could send contaminated material into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, and potentially into Mobile Bay and the Gulf. Coal ash can contain toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium and cobalt. Once released into a major river and estuary system, contamination could have consequences that extend far beyond the plant's boundaries.

The question we should be asking is not whether a disaster will happen. It is whether we are willing to accept the consequences of one when preventive action is possible.

The Mobile-Tensaw Delta is an extraordinary natural resource and an important nursery for shrimp, crabs and fish. Mobile Bay supports a fishing and seafood economy, recreational activities and tourism that benefit communities throughout Alabama. The Port of Mobile is also an economic engine for the entire state, connecting Alabama businesses and manufacturers to national and international markets.

A serious coal ash release could threaten these resources and create enormous cleanup and economic costs. The full extent, duration and cost of such an event would be difficult to predict. That uncertainty is precisely why Alabama should act before a failure occurs rather than respond afterward.

And this is bigger than Plant Barry.

How Alabama handles the coal ash remaining at Plant Barry establishes a precedent for coal ash management across the state. Alabama has other coal ash sites, including inactive ponds at TVA's Widows Creek facility near Stevenson and the Colbert Fossil Plant near Tuscumbia. The decisions made today will help determine whether Alabama's approach to aging coal ash facilities is one of prevention or one of waiting for problems to become disasters.

We should not gamble with Alabama's rivers, wetlands, seafood, beaches, economy and public health.

Our state leaders and regulators should require the safest practical long-term solution for coal ash at Plant Barry, demand full transparency about the site's risks and monitoring, and ensure that the public understands what would happen in the event of a catastrophic release. They should also use what is learned at Barry to examine the risks at coal ash sites throughout Alabama.

This is not an argument against Alabama's energy and manufacturing economy. It is an argument for protecting the natural resources and economic infrastructure upon which that economy depends.

As Dr. David Bronner has warned, Alabama needs to begin addressing this problem now — not wait until “Mother Nature” makes the decision for us.

We have a choice. We can take action while we still have that choice, or we can wait for a disaster and ask afterward why we did not.

Alabama should choose prevention. The time to act on coal ash is now.

Eugenia Lanaux
Fairhope