N.C. health agency posts warnings for Dan River after coal-ash spill

Press release

from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Raleigh, N.C. – The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health is issuing two health advisories related to the recent coal ash spill in the Dan River in Eden. The advisories address concerns associated with human exposure and consumption of fish and shellfish.

Recreational Water Advisory
Because the Duke Power-Eden coal ash spill is located in North Carolina’s portion of the Dan River, a potential hazard exists immediately downstream of the release. Therefore, the DHHS Division of Public Health recommends that people avoid recreational contact with water and sediment in the Dan River in North Carolina downstream of the Duke Power-Eden spill site.

DHHS also recommends that people do not contact submerged or floating coal ash, or ash washed up on the riverbank. Direct contact with the water or sediment may cause skin irritation. Wash skin that has been exposed to the water or sediment with soap and water. The Department will continue to monitor data as it becomes available to identify when health risks are no longer a concern.

Fish and Shellfish Consumption
Because the Duke Power-Eden coal ash spill is located in North Carolina’s portion of the Dan River , a potential hazard exists immediately downstream of the release. The DHHS Division of Public Health recommends that people not consume any fish or shellfish collected from the Dan River in North Carolina downstream of the Duke Power-Eden spill site.

DHHS is working with other agencies to collect fish downstream of the spill and will evaluate the data from fish samples as it becomes available to identify when health risks associated with eating the fish are no longer a concern.

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About Margaret Williams
Editor Margaret Williams first wrote for Xpress in 1994. An Alabama native, she has lived in Western North Carolina since 1987 and completed her Masters of Liberal Arts & Sciences from UNC-Asheville in 2016. Follow me @mvwilliams

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0 thoughts on “N.C. health agency posts warnings for Dan River after coal-ash spill

  1. bsummers

    If you just hold off the EPA and other enviro-whackos, the industry will find market-based solutions to these little… hiccups.

    • Dionysis

      I’m not sure they even need to go through the motions of pretending to seek ‘market-based solutions’ when they havce a puppet in the current governor:

      “Amy Adams was a regional director at the state environmental agency in charge of enforcing surface water standards for 21 North Carolina counties before she resigned in protest last November. A nine-year veteran of the agency, she said she was directed in her last months to help polluters meet compliance standards, rather than issue violations or fines.

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