Coal Ash Disposal Site in China

Villagers on a pile of coal ash at a coal ash disposal site in Zhaluji village near the Pannan Power Plant in Pan county, Liupanshui, Guizhou province. Zhaluji’s fields on the valley floor have already been buried by coal ash, but the villagers still plant crops on the mountain slopes. Several seepage wells have been built for drainage purposes, discharging ash slurry directly into the Xiangshui River. Phase 1 of the coal ash dam covers more than 133 hectares, but Zhaluji village resident Zhou Yixian told Greenpeace that the power plant has already begun building Phase 2 and 3 “right in the valley behind our home, where on the mountain we have a primary school.”