Duke Energy is trying to decide what to do with the coal ash ponds that remain at its closed W.C. Beckjord power plant along the Ohio River in Clermont County.
The ponds, filled with the toxic waste left over from the coal-burning plant, are unlined and sit next to the river, which provides drinking water to about 5 million people who live in Greater Cincinnati.
Environmental attorneys have pointed to incidents in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and North Carolina where lack of maintenance and attention at aging power plants led to massive spills of coal ash into nearby rivers and streams from ponds like those at Beckjord.
Beckjord's unlined ponds, so close to the Ohio River, seem like an environmental time bomb waiting to happen.
Kevin Necessary is the editorial cartoonist for WCPO. His opinions do not reflect those of WCPO.