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Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · United States · 2021

AES coal ash sold as road fill in Guayama, Puerto Rico; arsenic above standard

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

Coal ash from AES's Puerto Rico plant was sold as fill for 'caminos blancos' (white roads) in Guayama after the Dominican Republic refused it, and the distribution was not recorded. Canary Media reported that the company's own measurements found arsenic in groundwater at more than twice the standard.

What?
AES's coal ash was sold as road fill around Guayama after the Dominican Republic refused it. Canary Media
Where?
Guayama, Puerto Rico. Canary Media
When?
Ash sale reported in October 2023; groundwater data cover 2021–2023. Canary Media
Who?
Gained
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Guayama residents and groundwater users — groundwater arsenic above twice the standard, per the company's own measurements Canary Media
Why?
The ash was sold as fill after the Dominican Republic refused it. Canary Media
How?
The ash was distributed as fill for roads; the amount and locations are not recorded. Canary Media
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Canary Media reported in October 2023 that AES's coal ash was sold as fill in Guayama after the Dominican Republic refused it.

The article said the sale was not recorded and that distributed ash is exempt from the rule.

Canary Media reported that the company's own measurements found arsenic in groundwater at more than twice the standard.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say how much ash was distributed or where.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not show whether the EPA action promised in a second Canary Media article was carried out.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Groundwater
    Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
    PFOA (C8) and PFAS
    PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.

    Institutions

    EPA
    The US Environmental Protection Agency.
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