Duke Energy said Friday that a dam containing a large lake at Wilmington power plant has been breached by floodwaters from Florence, and it’s possible coal ash from an adjacent dump is flowing into the Cape Fear River. Sheehan said floodwaters also had overtopped a steel retaining wall containing one of three large coal ash dumps lining the lakeshore. The ash left over when coal is burned to generate electricity coal ash contains an array of components, including mercury, lead, arsenic and other toxic heavy metals. The current incident is separate from the rupture at a nearby coal ash landfill reported at the site last weekend, spilling enough material to fill 180 dump trucks. It plans to close all its ash dumps by 2029.

Source: Huffington Post September 21, 2018 15:56 UTC