"RICHMOND, Va. — Arsenic is illegally flowing out of one of the sites where Virginia's biggest utility stores coal ash, polluting surrounding waters, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Though U.S. District Judge John Gibney Jr. found Dominion Virginia Power had violated federal law with the discharges from a retired power plant in Chesapeake, he didn't impose a civil penalty, saying he saw no evidence the discharge was harmful.

Nor did he order the utility to remove the ash from the water's edge to a synthetically lined landfill as the Sierra Club, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, wanted.

'The ponds and landfill convey arsenic directly into the groundwater and, from there, directly into the surface water' in violation of the U.S. Clean Water Act, Gibney wrote."

Sarah Rankin reports for the Associated Press March 23, 2017. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Coal Ash: 'Why In The World Would We Be Importing It?'" (AP) [3]