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Captured by Coal

Texas signed off on the restoration of this old mine. Now a leaky landfill is contaminating groundwater.

Alcoa has put its shuttered Sandow Mine site on the market for $250 million, advertising it as a country paradise. Testing has found that groundwater under a landfill in the middle of the property is contaminated with toxic heavy metals.

By Kiah Collier, The Texas Tribune, and Naveena Sadasivam, Grist
The Alcoa power plant near Rockdale on August 1, 2019.
The interior of Lee’s Landing restaurant in Rockdale.
A view of some businesses on North Main Street in Rockdale.
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Local environmental activist Travis Brown founded a community group in Milam County to fight the perpetual expansion and pollution of a now-shuttered industrial complex operated by industrial giants Alcoa and Luminant.
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A conveyor belt runs over a lake on the grounds of the Alcoa Mine near Rockdale on Aug. 1, 2019.

A leaky landfill

Site of the the former Alcoa Mine near Rockdale on Aug. 1, 2019.
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The Alcoa power plant near Rockdale on August 1, 2019.

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Environment State government Texas Railroad Commission