Potomac Coal Ash Spill Could Reach Washington DCl

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/10/potomac-coal-ash-spill-co_n_173470.html


UPDATE: While the coal ash was spilled, Maryland officials are now saying that much of the spill thankfully missed the river:

"Any spill of coal ash is very serious, but it does seem like it will be of relatively limited impact, that it was a minor leak," said Dawn Stoltzfus, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of the Environment.

She said papermaker NewPage Corp., which owns the leaky pipeline over the river's North Branch, must tell state regulators within five days how it plans to prevent future spills. The agency is considering fining the company, Stoltzfus said.

EARLIER:

Looks like it's happened again -- a large quantity of wet coal ash has spilled into the North Branch Potomac River in Maryland, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment. The Natural Resource Defense Council points out that spilling coal ash into a river upstream from Washington, DC, is a hell of a way to get the attention of lawmakers:

I don't know how long it'll take for the spill to reach DC proper, but its a hell of a way to send a message about how much we need to regulate the handling of this stuff. All the more reason to thank the Obama Administration for announcing plans to propose federal regulations for coal waste.
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should we start a betting pool on which ash dump will bust open and fly next?

[LiberalEsto]

1. Oh swell. My drinking water comes from the Potomac.

It's bad enough that these dratted paper mills release dioxins into the river upstream from the local drinking water intakes. Now this.