EDEN, N.C. — Pete Harrison dipped his kayak paddle into a gray stain on the bank of the murky Dan River. He pulled out a sticky gob 4 inches thick.
"That's pure coal ash," he said.
Harrison, a lawyer with the Riverkeeper Alliance, was kayaking the river Thursday to take water samples, four days after a massive plume of coal ash laced with toxic chemicals spilled into the river from a storage basin at a retired coal-fired power plant operated by Duke Energy.
Environmentalists and the nation's largest electric utility seem to describe two different rivers in the wake of the third-largest coal ash spill in U.S. history. The Dan River is either recovering just fine or it has been poisoned by pollution from toxic heavy metals that will last for…show more content… In calm, soothing tones, they said company tests showed only traces of heavy metals.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday, February 10, 2014 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 News Desk 1 inches; 40 words Type of Material: Correction
Coal ash spill: An article in Section A on Feb. 9 about a coal ash spill in the Dan River in North Carolina said Pete Harrison is a lawyer with Riverkeeper Alliance. The name of the group is Waterkeeper Alliance.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, February 16, 2014 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 News Desk 1 inches; 38 words Type of Material: Correction
Coal ash spill: In the Feb. 9 Section A, an article about a coal ash spill in the Dan River in North Carolina identified Pete Harrison as a lawyer with Riverkeeper Alliance. The group's name is Waterkeeper Alliance.
From the moment Duke issued its first press release -- 26 hours after the spill was discovered at the storage basin Feb. 2 -- the utility has downplayed any danger to the public or wildlife. On Friday, a Duke statement was headlined: "Water quality continues to