North Carolina , Dan River : Officials said 5 ft deep coal ash is burying aquatic animals and their food. Devastating 2nd pipe now leaking with arsenic at 14 times the safe level according to tests.

North Carolina riverbed coated by toxic coal ash, officials say

Fish and other aquatic life at risk in Dan river, about 70 miles from where massive Duke Energy spill occurred two weeks ago

• Associated Press in Raleigh
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• theguardian.com, Tuesday 18 February 2014 15.37 EST

Officials said the coal ash is burying aquatic animals and their food. Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP

Federal officials said Tuesday that toxic coal ash has coated the bottom of a North Carolina river as many as 70 miles downstream of a Duke Energy dump where a massive spill occurred two weeks ago.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service advised that a massive pile of coal ash about 75ft long and as much as 5ft deep has been detected on the bottom of the Dan river near the site of the February 2 spill. Deposits varying from 5in deep to less than 1in coated the river bottom across the state line into Virginia and to Kerr Lake, a major reservoir.
Federal authorities expressed concern for what long-term effect the contaminants will have on fish, mussels and other aquatic life. Public health officials have advised people to avoid contact with the water and not eat the fish.
“The deposits vary with the river characteristics, but the short- and long-term physical and chemical impacts from the ash will need to be investigated more thoroughly, especially with regard to mussels and fish associated with the stream bottom and wildlife that feed on benthic invertebrates,” said Tom Augspurger, a contaminants specialist at the federal wildlife agency. Benthic invertebrates are small animals that live in the sediments of rivers and lakes, such as clams, worms and crustaceans.

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Toxins leaking from 2nd pipe at NC coal ash dump

By MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press

Updated 6:33 pm, Tuesday, February 18, 2014

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina officials said Tuesday that groundwater containing unsafe levels of arsenic apparently leaching from a Duke Energy coal ash dump is still pouring into the Dan River, which is already contaminated from a massive Feb. 2 spill.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources ordered Duke to stop the flow of contaminated water coming out a pipe that runs under a huge coal ash dump at its Eden power plant. A nearby pipe at the same dump collapsed without warning two weeks ago, coating the bottom of the Dan River with toxic ash as far as 70 miles downstream.
State regulators expressed concern five days ago that the second pipe could fail, triggering a new spill. The water coming out of that pipe contains poisonous arsenic at 14 times the level considered safe for human contact, according to test results released by the state on Tuesday.
"We are ordering Duke Energy to eliminate this unauthorized discharge immediately," said Tom Reeder, director of the N.C. Division of Water Resources.
Video taken last week by a robot sent inside the 36-inch-wide concrete pipe showed wide gaps between seams through which groundwater is gushing in, likely from the toxic dump above.
Tests on water from the pipe before it goes under the dump showed none of the dangerous contamination detected at the other end. The concrete inside the pipe is heavily stained around the numerous leaks, suggesting the contamination is likely not new.
A state inspector received the video recorded by Duke during a Feb. 11 visit to the site, but did not review it until Thursday. On Friday night, the state agency went public with concerns about the pipe's structural integrity.
Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan quickly issued a statement, downplaying the risk.
"After reviewing the videotape, we determined that no immediate action was necessary," it said.
In the wake of the initial spill, public health officials issued advisories telling people to avoid contact with the river water and not eat the fish.
Authorities said public drinking water in Danville, Va., and other communities downstream of the Duke plant remain safe. Heavy metals detected in the river at levels exceeding state and federal safety standards — including arsenic, lead and selenium — are being successfully filtered out of water drawn from the river at municipal treatment plants, they said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday a massive pile of coal ash about 75 feet long and as much as 5 feet deep has been detected in the river by the site of the Feb. 2 spill. Deposits varying from 5 inches deep to less than 1 inch coated the river bottom across the state line into Virginia and to Kerr Lake, a major reservoir.
Federal authorities expressed concern for what long-term effect the contaminants will have on fish, mussels and other aquatic life.
"The deposits vary with the river characteristics, but the short- and long-term physical and chemical impacts from the ash will need to be investigated more thoroughly, especially with regard to mussels and fish associated with the stream bottom and wildlife that feed on benthic invertebrates," said Tom Augspurger, a contaminants specialist at the federal wildlife agency.

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North Carolina : Duke Energy Coal Ash Spill Pollutes River and Threatens Drinking Water

Dan River Coal Ash Spill Pollutes Waterway Near Retired Duke Energy Plant (PHOTOS)

Posted: 02/04/2014 11:53 am EST Updated: 02/05/2014 11:59 am EST

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Photo courtesy of Appalachian Voices.

EDEN, N.C. (AP) — A pipe under a coal ash pond broke in northern North Carolina, releasing an unknown amount of coal ash into the Dan River, Duke Energy Corp. said Monday.
The pipe broke Sunday afternoon at the now-closed Dan River Steam Station in Eden, the utility said. The ash pond covers about 27 acres, and the dam holding the water in was not affected by the leak, officials said.
A water quality-monitoring team is checking the river, but Duke Energy said downstream water supplies have not been affected.

Photo courtesy of Appalachian Voices.

Officials in Danville, Va., which draws its water from the Dan River downstream from the ash pond, said the spill did not affect the quality of the city's water supply.
"All water leaving our treatment facility has met public health standards. We do not anticipate any problems going forward in treating the water we draw from the Dan River," said Barry Dunkley, division director of water and wastewater treatment for Danville Utilities.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said in a statement that it is investigating, as well as helping to monitor water quality and work with Duke energy to clean up the spill.

Photo courtesy of Appalachian Voices.
Engineers have not figured out exactly how much ash and water made it into the Dan River in Rockingham County, although Duke Energy promised to make that figure public as soon as calculations are complete.


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The Institute for Southern Studies

INSTITUTE INDEX: Duke Energy coal ash spill latest in ongoing regulatory disaster

Date on which a break in a stormwater pipe beneath a coal ash disposal pit at a shuttered Duke Energy power plant near Eden, N.C. contaminated the Dan River with toxic coal ash: 2/2/2014
Estimated tons of coal ash -- which contains toxins including arsenic, lead, mercury,  and radioactive elements -- that were released to the river: 50,000 to 82,000
Number of Olympic-size swimming pools that amount of coal ash would fill: 20 to 32
Estimated gallons of coal ash-contaminated water from the storage pit that also reached the river: 24 million to 27 million
Number of rail cars the toxic pollution could fill: 413 to 677
Rank of the spill among the largest coal ash spills in U.S. history: 3
Hours that Duke Energy waited from the time it discovered the spill to report it to the public: 26
Miles downstream of the spill site that Danville, Va. draws its drinking water: 6
Age in years of Duke Energy's Dan River ash pits: 53
Year in which Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspections found problems with leakage at the plant's coal ash dam as well as dilapidated and poorly maintained stormwater pipes: 2009
Number of coal-fired power plants that Duke Energy owns across North Carolina: 14
Percent of those plants where there have been unpermitted discharges of coal ash to the environment: 100
Amount that is being spent to run a municipal water line to the North Carolina community of Flemington because a leaky Duke Energy coal ash pit contaminated the local groundwater supply: $2.25 million
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Breaking: Duke Energy Coal Ash Spill Pollutes River and Threatens Drinking Water

Donna Lisenby | February 4, 2014 10:50 am

[This is the first article in a two-part series. Read part two.]

Yesterday afternoon, Duke Energy reported that it spilled between 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River near Eden, NC. To put the volume in perspective, the spill is the equivalent of 413 to 677 rail cars of wet coal ash poured into a public drinking water source. The spill is located on a stretch of the Dan River between Eden, NC and Danville, VA. An estimated 22 million gallons of coal ash could already be in the Dan River moving downstream.

Equally disturbing is that neither Duke Energy nor any of the government regulators issued a press release and informed the public about this massive spill until 24 hours after it was discovered. If a freight train full of this toxic waste had derailed, there would have been immediate notification and quick news coverage in order to inform and protect the public. The delay in reporting this spill is inexcusable.
A security guard who noticed unusually low water in the ash pond at the shuttered coal plant led to the discovery of the spill.  This means most of the water had escaped and contaminated the river before anyone at Duke noticed.
Upon investigation, Duke discovered that a 48-inch stormwater pipe underneath the unlined 27-acre, 155-million-gallon ash pond broke Sunday afternoon and drained tens of thousands of tons of coal ash and water into the Dan River.

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