Asheville News

Mountain Xpress: High Arsenic levels found in water and sediment samples downstream from Progress Energy’s Skyland power plant

Jason Sandford February 13, 2009

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

The Mountain Xpress had this report on Wednesday, in case you missed it:

Elevated arsenic levels have been found in a preliminary sampling of water and sediment collected downstream from Progress Energy’s Skyland power plant and coal-ash pond. A water sample taken from an unnamed French Broad River tributary nearby contained arsenic at slightly above the permissible level for surface waters—and seven times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s limit for drinking water, says Steve Patch, director of UNCA’s Environmental Quality Institute. Patch and a research assistant also collected a sediment sample that yielded a more alarming arsenic level of 258 parts per million.

That’s more than 15 times arsenic’s “probable effect level”—the point at which a toxic element frequently has negative effects on organisms—as opposed to its “threshold effect level,” at which organisms might experience negative effects but rarely do, he explains. The naturally occurring arsenic level in U.S. soils, notes Patch, averages about 5 ppm.

Others are taking notice of the news.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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2 Comments

Sonya February 16, 2009

yikes! maybe if people had a better idea of what happens from high arsenic toxicity, there would be more of an outcry. this is from Pub Med…
Arsenic exerts its toxicity by inactivating up to 200 enzymes, especially those involved in cellular energy pathways and DNA synthesis and repair. Acute arsenic poisoning is associated initially with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and severe diarrhoea. Encephalopathy and peripheral neuropathy are reported. Chronic arsenic toxicity results in multisystem disease. Arsenic is a well documented human carcinogen affecting numerous organs.

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ThinkAsheville February 14, 2009

Where is RiverLink on this? Where is "French Broad River Keeper" Hartwell Carson (Captain of RiverLink’s Mud Puddle Police) and where is water quality champion Karen Cragnolin when there is a real danger to health and safety in our River? It’s not that they’re averse to taking activist positions on issues they believe affect river water quality — a quick search will show they’ve done this many times. If a thunderstorm overflows a contractor’s silt fence, they’re all over it with a team of volunteers, publicity, press releases, and a flood of righteous indignation. But now comes Progress Energy with high arsenic levels below their plant, reminiscent of the TVA situation in east TN — a true threat to environment and health — and not a word out of our water quality champions. Observers of institutional consistency and credibility ask, "Where is RiverLink?"
Have I missed it, have they spoken out on this?
Where is RiverLink on the Progress Energy sludge pond arsenic story?

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