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Contaminated Drinking Water (Extra Scene from 'Toxic Waste in the US: Coal Ash')

In this extra scene, a couple living near a coal ash pond in Dukeville, North Carolina, speak about how finding out that their drinking water is contaminated shone a new light on the illnesses in their family and in the neighborhood over the years.

Watch the full length, "Toxic Waste in the US: Coal Ash"

Coal ash, which contains many of the world's worst carcinogens, is what's left over when coal is burnt for electricity. An estimated 113 million tons of coal ash are produced annually in the US, and stored in almost every state — some of it literally in people's backyards. With very little government oversight and few safeguards in place, toxic chemicals have been known to leak from these storage sites and into nearby communities, contaminating drinking water and making residents sick.

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VICE News travels across the US to meet the people and visit the areas most affected by this toxic waste stream. Since coal production is predicted to remain steady for the next few decades, coal ash will be a problem that will affect the US for years to come.

In this extra scene, Ron and Joanne Thomas, who live just hundreds of feet away from a coal ash pond, speak about how finding out that their drinking water is contaminated shone a new light on the illnesses in their family and in the neighborhood over the years.

Watch "Showdown in Coal Country"

Watch "Petcoke: Toxic Waste in the Windy City"

Read "The Fossil Fuel Industry Paid This Scientist to Deny Human-Caused Climate Change"