• Font Size    

Most Popular Videos Featured On KDKA.com

Pittsburgh Festivities Kickoff Holidays
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Tennessee Fly Ash Disaster Raises Concerns Locally

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Dec 30, 2008 8:01 pm US/Eastern

Tennessee Fly Ash Disaster Raises Concerns Locally

Reporting
Andy Sheehan
(KDKA) The landslide in Tennessee loosed a tide of fly ash sludge over hundreds of acres -- enveloping the homes and contaminating the water -- leaving residents homeless and their neighborhoods unrecognizable.

And it was just three years ago when a fly ash retaining wall gave way in Forward Township, Allegheny County and the sludge rushed down a creek through the streets.

Today most of the Forward Township spill has been cleaned up. Residents are now in court over what they fear will be the long-term effects.

Environmental activist Lisa Graves-Marcucci says the concern is real since the fly ash contained close to a dozen hazardous materials.

"The No. 1 thing was arsenic. It was very high," she said.

And Marcucci and others are now raising concerns about a massive fly ash reservoir in Beaver County called Little Blue.

First Energy, which operates a coal-fired power plant along the Ohio River, traps the fly ash and sulfur dioxide in the combustion process and pumps it through an underground pipe into the Little Blue Reservoir.

At 130 acres it's 30 times bigger than the Tennessee pond and Marcucci says a breach there could be disastrous.

"What will it do? I've heard estimates the DEP was quoted as saying there might be 50,000 people who would be impacted," Marcucci said.
 
For its part, First Energy says the reservoir is safe and intact. Spokesman Mark Durbin said: "We take this very seriously. Safety is a priority. We have a third-party contractor inspect it not once but twice a year."

But Marcucci is not satisfied.

"Well, I equate it this way. It's the fox watching the hen house. They're allowed to self test, they're allowed to self-police." 

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Featured Slideshows On KDKA.com

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

KDKA Investigators

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.