Environmental Health & Justice

Coal Ash Solutions

What is coal ash and why is it a problem?

When coal is burned, the ash left behind contains toxic heavy metals like arsenic, cobalt, chromium, lead, radium, and mercury. See a full list of contaminants and their health effects. The problems with coal ash include:

• When coal ash gets wet, it contaminates water. Download Our Waters at Risk, Part 2.
• When coal ash is dry and gets into the air, it creates a breathing hazard.
• There is a lot of coal ash.
  • U.S. coal plants generated about 5 billion tons of coal ash over the last 100 years (Source: American Coal Ash Association, 2020 CCP Production and Use Survey Report.)
  • Power plants in Indiana make about 5 million tons of coal ash per year. (Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration data for 2020 - 2022.)

March 2025 Update: EPA and Governor’s actions affect Indiana’s coal ash problems

Coal Ash in Indiana

Hoosier Environmental Council’s work on coal ash receives generous support from the Energy Foundation, the McKinney Family Foundation, and the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, as well as our individual donors.

Environmental Justice

The EPA defines "Environmental Justice" as:

"The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work."

Despite EPA's goal, some Hoosier communities bear a much heavier pollution burden than others and those inequalities tend to track with economic and racial inequities, and are at the heart of the concept of “environmental injustice.”

Toxic Exposure Reduction

Hoosiers can be exposed to toxins in their air, water, soil, or from products.

Are you looking for a reference to help you determine who to contact regarding an issue with toxic pollution you or your community is experiencing? Please check into this report from the Great Lakes Center for Children’s Environmental Health: Investigating Environmental Contamination: A Guide for Communities. This report provides technical assistance, telephone consultations, and training by experts on environmental health issues.

HEC is currently working with a group in Logansport to stop a steel waste processing facility from going in three miles from their downtown. We were successful in blocking the same company from building a facility in Muncie in 2019.

Food System Reform

Our food system is harming Hoosiers and our environment.

Within the last few decades, the United States went from raising livestock on traditional farms owned by farm families, to "producing" livestock in highly mechanized, industrial operations controlled by a handful of giant corporations. Indiana is home to nearly 2,000 of these industrial-scale animal factories.

Check out our Factory Farm Finder Map!