82,000 tons of coal sludge spilling for days into NC river threatens Virginia drinking water

Five days after coal ash began leaking into the Dan River in North Carolina last weekend, Duke Energy still can’t say if the mess will ever be cleaned up.

On Sunday, a security guard at the Duke Energy plant in Eden discovered that the gray sludge was leaking out of a storage pond and into the river through a hole in a storm water drainage pipe beneath the pond. Since then, up to 82,000 tons have flowed into the river.

Environmental groups have blasted Duke Energy for taking more than 24 hours to notify the public of what they say is one of the worst spills of its type in U.S. history.

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