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Sunday, February 9th, 2014

Environmentalists say N.C. River Is ‘Toxic Soup’ After Coal Ash Spill

Author:     PETER MOSKOWITZ
Source:     Al Jazeera America
Publication Date:     February 7, 2014 9:14AM ET
 Link: Environmentalists say N.C. River Is ‘Toxic Soup’ After Coal Ash Spill
Stephan:   It is to the great shame of American corporate media, that their coverage of what has happened in West Virginia and North Carolina -- with the exception of Rachel Maddow on MSNBC -- has been so superficial and scanty. This is seriously criminal behavior on the part of both the corporations and the regulatory agencies that are supposed to protect us. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of ordinary Americans are having their health threatened and, instead of digging into that, the media is spending time on a more than two decade old story about Woody Allen, the truth about which will never be known. I had to go to Aljazeera to get a good story on this disaster.

Energy officials and environmentalists are making conflicting statements about the human and environmental safety of water in North Carolina’s Dan River, in which tens of thousands of tons of coal ash spilled from a defunct energy plant earlier this week.

Test results released late on Thursday by plant owner Duke Energy and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources showed slightly elevated levels of arsenic and other toxins, but not at levels that would be harmful to human health.

But testing done closer to the spill site by a lab hired by environmental group The Waterkeeper Alliance showed arsenic levels almost nine times above the state’s results, and far above levels considered safe for human consumption.

Asked by The Associated Press why the state didn’t test closer to the spill site, Tom Reeder, head of North Carolina’s Division of Water Resources, said the results further downstream would provide more accurate results.

“Obviously, if we took it directly underneath where the discharge is entering the water, particularly in a case like this, you might find some exceedances,” Reeder said. “But what we’re really interested in is finding out what the actual impact is in the environment, and in order to do that you […]

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