The Uncosted West · Episode 13 of 15 · 37 min
How Puerto Rico Beat a Copper Mine but Not the Coal Ash
One Puerto Rican story has two endings: a community in Adjuntas that stopped an open-pit mine cold, and a town in Guayama buried under a coal plant's ash. The episode tells Casa Pueblo's rare clean victory beside the AES plant's ash spread across the island's poor south, careful on the contested health science and fair to the plant's role in the power supply.
Who's who
- Alexis Massol-GonzálezCasa Pueblo co-founder who led the anti-mining campaign; 2002 Goldman Prize winner
- Tinti Deyá DíazCasa Pueblo co-founder and educator
- Jenniffer González-ColónPuerto Rico governor whose administration backs extending coal operations
Where it happens
- Adjuntas, Puerto RicoTown in the central mountains where Casa Pueblo defeated open-pit mining
- Guayama, Puerto RicoSouth coast town beside the AES coal plant
- Bosque del Pueblo, Adjuntas, Puerto RicoCommunity-managed forest on land that would have been mined
- Dominican Republic+1 more episodeDestination of some shipped coal ash
Timeline
- 1980Casa Pueblo founded in Adjuntas to oppose open-pit mining
- 1996Bosque del Pueblo community forest created
- 2002Massol-González wins Goldman Prize; AES Guayama coal plant begins burning coal
- 2015Federal coal combustion residuals rule takes effect
- 2017Hurricane María devastates the island and its grid
- 2025-2026Governor's administration backs legislation to extend coal operations
Still debated
Whether the Guayama plant and its ash caused the cancer and respiratory illness residents report is scientifically contested. Whether the island can retire the plant's capacity on schedule without blackouts is also open.