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River dredging to begin next week
GoDanRiver Staff | Posted: Friday, May 2, 2014 10:00 pmDanville’s water treatment plant will work around the removal of coal ash from the Dan River behind Schoolfield Dam.
“ We plan to close our water intake valve during the daytime when dredging is taking place,” Barry Dunkley, Danville Utilities’ division director for water and wastewater treatment, said in a news release. “We will open it up during the evening and overnight when there will be no dredging.”
About 39,000 tons of toxic coal ash were dumped into the Dan River on Feb. 2 when a drainpipe at the old Dan River Steam Station failed. The spill coated the river bottom for approximately 75 miles — including a large coal ash deposit that settled on the river bottom behind Schoolfield Dam.
That deposit of coal ash is across from Abreu-Grogan Park and measures about 350 yards long by 20 yards wide, and about one foot deep. It’s estimated that 2,500 tons — or about 6 to 8 percent of the entire spill — has now settled behind the Schoolfield Dam. Another 253 tons of coal ash were caught by the city’s water treatment process.
That coal ash deposit behind Schoolfield Dam is close to Danville’s raw water intake, and a contractor for Duke Energy, Phillips and Jordan of Knoxville, Tennessee, is preparing to remove the coal ash deposit. Dredging the coal ash could begin late next week.
Phillips and Jordan “will use a more sophisticated dredging technique than simply scooping into the river bottom as is common. The technique it will use will work somewhat like a household vacuum cleaner, with the dredging tool sweeping up the ash, minimally disturbing the river bottom,” according to the release.
The company will use turbidity barriers, also known as “silt barriers” or “silt curtains” to control the coal ash while it’s being pulled from the river bottom.
The city government has also placed two webcams at Abreu-Grogan Park to allow people to watch the dredging. ( www.danrivercleanup.org ).
“ We handled the initial spill without any problems, so we are confident that we will be OK during the dredging operation,” Dunkley said. “The decision to change the hours of operation is a matter of exercising an abundance of caution.”
Danville’s drinking water has consistently tested to federal drinking water standards both before and after the coal ash spill. Dunkley said the city will continue testing river water and the water treated at the city’s plant at the corner of Park Avenue and Memorial Drive.
http://www.godanriver.com/news/coal-ash/river-dredging-to-begin-next-week/article_5a04539e-d22f-11e3-8aff-0017a43b2370.html
Eden sewage overflow heads downstream
GoDanRiver Staff | Posted: Friday, May 2, 2014 11:24 amAbout 16,440 gallons of untreated sewage was released into the Tanyard Branch in Eden, North Carolina Monday — a branch that flows into the Dan River.
According to a news release sent Friday from Mark Bullins, superintendent of collection and distribution in Eden, the sewage overflow was discovered last Monday at 2 p.m. at the Bridge Street Pump Station and ended at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
http://www.godanriver.com/news/danville/eden-sewage-overflow-heads-downstream/article_cc8c4dbc-d20d-11e3-9fee-0017a43b2370.html?mode=print
Say no to fracking in NC and IWW Environmental Unionist Caucus shared US Uncut's photo.
Duke Energy dumped 82,000 tons of coal ash into North Carolina's Dan River and claim they can't afford to clean it up. Now they're spending millions to kill roo...ftop solar.
