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AES
,SW: →Coal Ash Waste and Water Contamination: added update
===Elementary students protest AES Shady Point fly ash===
{{#evp:youtube|tUGy5_xN28A|Children affected by fly ash|right|210}}
===Coal Waste Disposal Site in Bokoshe, Oklahoma Opposed by Local Community===
Residents of Bokoshe, Oklahoma claim that a [[coal ash]] waste site run by a company called Making Money Having Fun located in the town is causing health problems among local residents. School children voiced their concerns by organizing a letter drive to send to their congressperson. "When I found out that nine kids out of seventeen in my sixth grade [class] that had asthma, I knew there was a problem," said Bokoshe teacher Diane Reece.<ref>[http://www.4029tv.com/video/26052837/detail.html "Town Accuses Coal Plant Of Poisoning Community"] December 7, 2010, 4029v.com</ref>
In December 2010, students at Bokoshe Elementary in Oklahoma teamed up to ask AES to stop dumping [[fly ash]] from its [[AES Shady Point Generation Plant]] near their homes. The students believe that the [[coal ash]] has caused more than half their class of 17 kids to develop asthma. The AES Shady Point power plant sits just east of Bokoshe, a town of 450 residents. About a mile from its main street, a 50 foot wall of fly ash waste has piled up over the last eight years. The fly ash is dumped at a location owned and operated by Making Money Having Fun, LLC. Residents say the ash blows over to their town and covers everything. AES insists that the fly ash is safe and the company has taken steps to better contain the fly ash during transport to the dump site. But Bokoshe residents say they have reason to believe differently: "We feel like it's a hot spot for cancer and respiratory ailments,” resident Tim Tanksley told 5NEWS.<ref>Jared Broyles, [http://www.latimes.com/kfsm-bokoshe-students-say-coalburni-120710,0,3615053.story "Bokoshe Students Say Coal-Burning Plant Causing Cancer"] LA Times, Dec. 7, 2010.</ref>
Other residents claim that cancer in the area is higher than other parts of Oklahoma due to the location of the coal ash site, debris of which blows around the community when winds pick up.
The fly ash is carried by truck to Bokoshe from a nearby [[AES Shady Point Generation Plant]] coal-fired power plant.
A Making Money and Having Fun spokesperson denied that fly ash was toxic, stating, ""We have an outstanding environmental record over the past 20 years," AES spokesman Lundy Kiger told members of the media in a meeting at their Shady Point plant.<ref>[http://www.5newsonline.com/news/kfsm-aes-comes-out-swinging-in-resp-120810,0,1578727.story "AES Comes Out Swinging In Response To Bokoshe Residents"] Jared Boyles, 5newsonline.com, December 8, 2010.</ref>
==Foreign coal power plants==
