The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • A1

RETAIL $2 CITY $3 STATE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS II COR. 3:17 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2017 STATE EDITION AN ISSUE OF THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WEATHER LOW: 67 HIGH: 90 Sunny with near record temperatures Details, 32A Business Classifieds 3D Deaths 30A Editorials 21A Life 4B Living Puzzles Scorecard 9C Lottery 2A MLB SPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER DESTINATION MARS USA TODAY looks at reaching the Red Planet by 2030s in a section available only to home-delivery subscribers Get your flu shot here donate ameal to Feeding America. See our Pharmacy or The Little Clinic for details.One Shot, One Meal. It is considered by many to be the sin- gle most important crisis facing the state of Indiana. And for good reason.

Opioid addiction is a public health ca- tastrophe. More than 1 in 20 people in Indi- ana a staggering 286,000 Hoosiers report having engaged in nonmedical use of opioid pain relievers. Even worse, the number of Hoosiers who have died from drug poisoning has increased 500 percent since 1999. More people now die in Indiana from drug poisoning than in car accidents. That said, discussing the problem merely in terms of public health does an injustice to just how pervasive and acute Series looks at growing opioid crisis OPIOID, Page 4A Oxycodone is one of the most abused prescription opioid pain medications.

SPENCER POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE BOONVILLE Todd Scales scuffed the toe of his black sneaker against the bank of the lake, an L-shaped body of murky green water too small to warrant a name. He like being here. Most days, Scales avoids this stretch of road outside Boonville, where a 2-foot-tall white cross and flowers are nestled in the underbrush. Reminders of all lost. Three years ago, 27-year-old daughter Kristy Kelley vanished.

Her disappearance triggered a multia- gency police investigation, sonar and drone searches and national news cover- age. Hundreds of vol- unteers descended on the close-knit city of Boonville to help search for the viva- cious young mother of two. That pursuit ended a month later, in this opaque body of water. Police have long since closed the case, and the bevy of volunteers has moved on. But the mystery and unan- swered questions sur- rounding death still gnaw at Scales and others.

Why did Kelley leave the bar without her cellphone? How did she end up in that area of town? What caused the extensive damage to her SUV before it entered the water? How did she miss a turn at an intersec- tion she knew so well? Why was her submerged auto- matic transmission left in park? The Warrick County Office talking. It ruled death an ac- cident, then it sealed the records in her case. believe strongly more to the Scales said. I thought it was just that simple, cut and dry, then I would ac- cept that and be done. just a lot of unanswered Family seeks answers in death Boonville body found in lake, but questions abound as to how she wound up there MARISA KWIATKOWSKI MARISA.KWIATKOWSKI@INDYSTAR.COM Kristy body was found after a manhunt in 2014.

ROBERT See KELLEY, Page 18A he coal plants that landscapegenerate much morethan electricity. They also produce toxic ash. When coal is burned, it leaves behind ash that is filled with con- taminants such as arsenic, chro- mium and boron that leach into nearby groundwater and water- ways. That ash is stored in massive pits, almost all of which are un- linedand thus provide no barrier between the toxic waste and whatever else it may come into contact with. And Indiana has a lot of these pits roughly 85 of them, which is more than any other state.

Just how much of this pollut- ing powder is stored in these pits? More than 60 million cubic yards. enough to entirely blanket Marion County in an inch of black soot. And then Hancock County, too. a serious problem that needs to be dealt with soon. But how to solve that problem that is the crux of an intense de- bate happening across the nation and right now in Indiana.

State regulators are for the first time trying to set policy that could have widespread re- percussions not only for the owners of nearly 20 ac- tive and retired coal plants and for the environment, but also for the quality of life for people who live in places such as Cayuga and Mt. Carmel and New Albany and right here in Indianapolis. years, the environmen- tal community has wanted stronger oversight of coal ash we need to hold everyone ac- countable and we need to make sure human and environmental health are uppermost in the deci- sions being said Tim Mal- oney, senior policy director with the Hoosier Environmental Council. considerations need to be foremost in what hap- pens here, and time will tell if they are or The U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management understand the im- portance and urgency.

And so, COAL ASH CONTAMINANTS PIT PROBLEMS ABOVE: Joyce and Jim Cravens filter water from their well-water system in their Sunshine Gardens home earlier this month. They fear effects of coal ash ponds leaching into the groundwater from the nearby Harding Street Generating Station. TOP: Coal at Duke Cayuga Generating Station along the Wabash River, as seen from the air. PHOTOS BY KELLY With more than 60 million cubic yards of toxic ash stored in Indiana pits, the debate is on over how to keep the polluted substance out of the ground water Toxic Secret SARAH BOWMAN SARAH.BOWMAN@INDYSTAR.COM See video on the problem coal ash poses for ground water. See ASH, Page 6A CONFRONTING INDIANA'S OPIOID CRISIS STATE OF ADDICTION: STATE OF ADDICTION: CONFRONTING INDIANA'S OPIOID CRISIS STATE OF ADDICTION: CONFRONTING INDIANA'S OPIOID CRISIS.