Coal ash: ‘Why in the world would we be importing it?’

Shipping containers full of coal ash from China, Poland and India have come into the U.S. through the Port of Virginia as foreign companies find a market for the same industrial waste that America’s utilities are struggling to dispose of.

Critics call it a missed opportunity.

Coal ash is treasure as well as trash, useful for projects from roads to concrete to wallboard. They want Virginia to mandate more recycling of the ash that’s already here, threatening to contaminate water sources or create an environmental disaster.

“We have millions of tons of this sitting along our riverbanks,” said Travis Blankenship, former government affairs manager for the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. “Why in the world would we be importing it from other states and countries?”