The Virginia side of the spill-- McAuliffe: Duke expected to pony up for coal ash spill

[carolinayellowdog]

2. longterm vs. immediate damage

It has been discouraging that there is so much misunderstanding and ignorance around this subject even among those who are sympathetic to environmental issues, e.g. Rachel Maddow. Humans, of course, are anthropocentric and immediately think "how will this affect us?" Fortunately for everyone in Danville, water treatment technology suffices to remove the coal ash from the water supply. Warnings against people getting into the river itself don't mean that the treated water is unsafe, which has been implied in some coverage. On the other hand, if the immediate hazards to human health have been exaggerated, those to other species have been virtually ignored. Macroinvertebrates at the bottom of the food chain have been drowned in toxic sludge, to be eaten by fish... the damage goes up the food chain for years and years and measurement has just started.

I plead guilty to a version of anthropomorphism in response to this catastrophe-- all the talk about "aquatic life" didn't really impact me emotionally until I saw a news story in which Danvillians noted the disappearance of otter and beaver along the river in town, many miles downstream of the spill. Nothing is more delightful to a paddler than an encounter with friendly, curious otters, with their bright eyes and cute faces-- and when I thought of entire families dying in toxic sludge, that's when I broke down in tears. Turtles died immediately as well, and they are ubiquitous on the affected stretch. For those of us in the region involved in environmental protection, this will be with us the rest of our lives and beyond.

But another grievous aspect of longterm damage is to humans in areas unaffected by the spill. I've been aghast at the widespread incomprehension of the distinction between "upsteam" and "downstream." The vast majority of recreational use of the Dan is upstream of the spill site, where the waters are perfectly safe. (At least until another spill.) But even 50 miles upstream, the local economies are likely to be impacted for years by the perception that "the Dan River is polluted." So I hope part of the remediation involves some PR funds for localities to invite people to use the river for recreation, like what BP did with TV ads for the Gulf.