Wisconsin power plant spills coal ash into Lake Michigan 8
November 2011 On October 31, a dam at the We Energies Oak Creek
Power Plant in Wisconsin collapsed, sending an estimated 2,500
cubic yards of coal ash into Lake Michigan. Coal ash is a
residue produced by the combustion of coal. Prior to regulations
put in place since the 1970s, this waste product was released
into the atmosphere. Under current regulation, companies are
required to capture the material using electrostatic
precipitators, whereafter it is stored in holding ponds,
disposed of in landfills, reused to manufacture concrete, or
diluted and released. Coal ash often contains substances harmful
to humans including cadmium, arsenic, lead and dioxin. It is not
classified as toxic waste under existing environmental
protection laws. Responding to the accident on Friday, Barry
McNulty, a spokesman for We Energies, told Michigan Radio, “I
don’t view it as a particular hazard. It’s not something
obviously we want in Lake Michigan but it is not somethi