The communities have complained that neither the company nor government agencies have taken corrective action concerning the inappropriate disposal of this pollutant. AES executives, officials from the EPA, the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) and the Puerto Rico and federal departments of Justice have been advised of these complaints since September 2012, according to a Notice of Intent to Sue from the legal aid organization Public Justice.

Meanwhile, AES has continued to produce toxic coal ash at a rate of 400 to 1,600 tons per day, or about 300,000 tons per year, according to their own estimates. To help understand the magnitude of the company’s ash waste production, a car can weigh between one and two tons.

Given the weight of the ashes and the type of vehicles used, part of this waste ends up spread along the routes chosen to transport it from Guayama to landfills in Peñuelas and Humacao. These locations have received the waste without authorization or supervision of the Environmental Quality Board.

As recently as October 15, the EQB acknowledged in writing that during 2015, 350,000 tons in the Humacao landfill and another 7,000 tons of ash were illegally unloaded in the Peñuelas landfill.

These violations have not resulted in fines or cancellation of permits and contracts.

Coal ash is also radioactive