AES Corporation illegally dumped 100 million pounds of toxic coal as on a pristine beach in the Dominican Republic. After acute health problems came horrible birth defects, Complaint alleges.

Illegal Toxic Coal Ash Dumping FAQs

What type of company is AES?

The AES Corporation, AES Atlantis and AES Puerto Rico, LP, are American power companies, incorporated and organized in the State of Delaware, that annually earn billions of dollars from the operation of fossil fuel-burning power plants around the world.

What type of power plant was operated in Puerto Rico?

AES and its subsidiary AES Puerto Rico, LP, operated a coal-fired cogeneration facility in Guayama, Puerto Rico for the production and sale of steam and electricity. The facility opened at the end of 2003 and produced about two million pounds, (1,000 tons) of coal ash waste each day.

What is Coal Ash?

Coal ash is waste generated during the coal burning process in furnaces. During the burning process limestone is added and all carbons contained in the coal are exhausted, leaving behind unburnable material such as quantities of heavy metals. Many of these unburnable materials are well-known toxins. Coal ash is comprised of Bottom Ash and Fly Ash. Bottom Ash is the residue that sticks to the hot side walls of the furnace, while Fly Ash is the lighter, smaller particles which escape up the furnace chimney.

What is Fly Ash?

Fly Ash is part of the coal ash residue generated during the combustion process of coal and limestone in a coal-fired power plant. The toxic constituents contained in fly ash depend upon the unburnable minerals which were contained in the coal used to power the plant. Coal commonly includes quantities of heavy metals and elements such as arsenic, beryllium, lead, cadmium, and mercury.

What toxic material was found in the coal ash dumped on the beaches in the Dominican Republic?

The toxic coal ash dumped on the Dominican Republic beaches in Samana and Manzanillo contained well known hazardous toxins including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury.

Where is Arroyo Barril?

Arroyo Barril is a small village located in the Province of Samana on the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic on the Island of Hispanola.

What is Manzanillo and where is it located?

Manzanillo is located in the northwest area of the Dominican Republic in the country's Montecrisiti region. It, too, was the site of illegal dumping of toxic coal ash. Approximately 60 million pounds of the coal-burning residue were dumped on a beach in that location.

What kind of injuries did the residents of Samana suffer from the illegal dumping of toxic coal ash?

The Complaint, filed in the State of Delaware Superior Court, lists acute injuries residents began to experience immediately after the dumping, chronic problems which persist since the initial dumping, fertility problems and horrible birth defects occurring years after the illegal disposal, as toxic chemicals in the coal ash begin to chronically affect women of child-bearing age.

Why was the case filed in Delaware, in the United States?

In 2004 the Dominican Republic sued AES in Virginia federal court for the act of illegal dumping. That case has been settled under seal. This Complaint was filed in Delaware for two reasons: First, the AES companies named as defendants are registered in the United States in Delaware; Second, there is no mechanism for seeking economic justice for the plaintiffs in Dominican courts. This case, if successful, will compensate the victims and, equally as important, establish a broad regimen of medical monitoring for the plaintiffs to help identify early and treat serious disease, including cancers that can appear years after initial exposure to the toxic coal ash.

Why couldn't the residents just move away after the toxic coal ash was dumped?

The per capita gross domestic product for the Dominican Republic is just $4,200—less than 1/10th of the United States' $45,047 according to 2007 United Nations statistics—and Samana residents' income is believed to be below the Dominican Republic average. After being reassured by AES that the coal ash dumped on their beach was safe and then developing acute health responses such as skin lesions and respiratory ailments, the residents of Arroyo Barril, many of whom do not even have electricity were not able to simply pick up and move. The small homes on the island are, for the most part, open to such a degree that the airborne toxic coal ash got into everything after it was dumped illegally in 2003 and 2004.

How are the parents, neighbors and others in Arroyo Barril and the Dominican Republic dealing with the children who survived with severe deformities? How are they coping with the deaths of children born severely deformed?

Some families have never gotten over the total shock they faced in the delivery room and now live in isolation and superstitious fear. For the children who lived, such as the two-year-old who has no arms, their families cope as best as they are able. Neighbors have come together to help them, too. But all the parents live with undeserved guilt, fearing they somehow should have been able to prevent the disfigurement of their children. Women whose pregnancies ended abruptly add to the growing statistic of spontaneously aborted children, also are deeply affected by the medical time bomb of this illegal dumping.

How were laws violated in this case?

According to the Complaint, dumping on the beaches of Samana and Manzanillo in the Dominican Republic violated Dominican and international law. Additionally, documents filed in the federal case in Virginia indicated that Dominican officials were bribed to allow the dumping. While these allegations are beyond the scope of this Complaint filed in Delaware they apparently sparked criminal charges in the Dominican Republic. We have no idea whether alleged bribes are being investigated by federal authorities in the United States as possible violations of U.S. law.

The photo of the beach where the coal ash waste was dumped looks like a nice green hill. How dangerous could that be?

It was a nice, non-toxic green hill before the illegal dumping. Residents frequented it for launching their boats, recreation and other uses until 2004 when it began to be filled with mountains of toxic coal ash. Photos today or what appears to be a verdant natural beachside hill do not show how that greenery is growing over mounds of toxic coal ash in many sizes, from large rocks, to smaller rocks, to pebbles, to dust, down to a coating of matted down toxic coal ash. In the past six years much of the friable (aerosolized) material has blown into the homes of Samana residents. The green weeds growing above the coal ash are not people since the plants appear to be immune to the heavy metals and other toxic properties of the dumped material.