North Carolina river turns to gray sludge after coal ash spill

[Redfairen]

Source: Associated Press

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/jbgX9mX1PjVDYIErTaj4Ew--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzM4NDtjcj0xO2N3PTQ5Njg7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQwOTtxPTg1O3c9NjAw/

ON THE DAN RIVER, N.C. (AP) — Canoe guide Brian Williams dipped his paddle downstream from where thousands of tons of coal ash has been spewing for days into the Dan River, turning the wooden blade flat to bring up a lump of gray sludge.

On the river bank, hundreds of workers at a Duke Energy power plant in North Carolina scrambled to plug a hole in a pipe at the bottom of a 27-acre pond where the toxic ash was stored.

Since the leak was first discovered by a security guard Sunday afternoon, Duke estimates up to 82,000 tons of ash mixed with 27 million gallons of contaminated water has spilled into the river. Officials at the nation's largest electricity provider say they cannot provide a timetable for when the leak will be fully contained, though the flow has lessened significantly as the pond has emptied.

.......

"How do you clean this up?" he said, shaking his head as he churned up the ash with his paddle. "Dredge the whole river bottom for miles? You can't clean this up. It's going to go up the food chain, from the filter feeders, to the fish, to the otters and birds, to people. Everything in the ecosystem of a river is connected."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/nc-river-turns-gray-sludge-coal-ash-spill-024204513.html?.tsrc=attmp

[2naSalit]

1. !!!

Officials at the nation's largest electricity provider say they cannot provide a timetable for when the leak will be fully contained, though the flow has lessened significantly as the pond has emptied.

Duh... ya think?

[AAO]

5. Great News!

If they can just drain the rest of the pond, the leak will be stopped!

[2naSalit]

8. I know, right?

[blkmusclmachine]

2. Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! ...To pollute your drinking water.

[hollysmom]

3. just wait for the dead fish smell n/t

[blackspade]

4. Fuck, not again.

And again, the company won't be liable for the cleanup, and the corporate officers in charge won't have to answer to the public.
Just like fucking 'Freedom' Industries in WV.

Humanity is so fucked. Thanks 1%.

[jsr]

6. Let them drink Perrier

[Zambero]

7. All part of "getting the gov't off our backs"

Thanks Ronnie, we never needed all that regulation and accountability anyway. Your words reverberate to this day.

[NBachers]

9. It's not coal ash, it's briquette gravy

[gLibDem]

10. How do we know that's not just river mud?

[Maynar]

11. You're kidding, right?

[gLibDem]

12. Always!

[Maynar]

13. Whew!

Had me going there, for a moment.

[calguy]

14. Who needs the EPA anyways?

[okaawhatever]

15. right, because the event considered the tipping point for creation of the EPA was a river catching

fire, this isn't nearly as bad. Look how much we've improved. Time to end the over reach of the EPA and other big government programs.

[juajen]

16. Thought you'd like to know the following:

"then we have “anyways,” a colloquial corruption of “anyway.” It’s universally considered nonstandard and should be avoided altogether. It might help to remember that “anyway” is an adverb, and adverbs can’t be plural."