MOBILE, Ala.—A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Alabama Power filed by Mobile Baykeepers over the utility’s storage of more than 21 million tons of coal ash, a toxic sludge, in an unlined pit above Mobile Bay.
Mobile Baykeepers, an environmental nonprofit based in south Alabama, alleges that the state’s largest utility is violating federal law by failing to comply with environmental requirements around the planned closure of its coal ash pit at Plant Barry.
In a 40-page order issued Thursday, a GOP-appointed federal judge dismissed Mobile Baykeeper’s suit without prejudice, writing that the issue is not yet ripe for judicial review.
Thursday’s order also revealed that Alabama Power and the Environmental Protection Agency will enter into settlement negotiations over coal ash storage at the site as soon as this month.