Black Rain
Wednesday, July 26, 2006By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Imagine the impact -- and public reaction -- if black paint drizzled from the skies and splattered a community.
That's how Shippingport Police Chief Mike Pantaleo described what happened Saturday evening, when residue spewing from a Bruce Mansfield Power Plant smokestack rained upon part of the Beaver County borough and extended 1 1/2 miles south into Raccoon Township.
"Everything was black," Chief Pantaleo said yesterday. "Our police car was totally black. It was unbelievable. We washed it three times."
He said vehicles had to stop because the black, oily soot smeared windshields, making it impossible to drive. Roads and houses were covered with soot. Anyone wearing a white shirt suddenly discovered it was splattered black.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said laboratory tests indicate the residue was acidic and contained silica and fly ash. Fly ash, a byproduct of the coal-burning process in the 2,360-megawatt power plant, can contain potentially hazardous heavy metals.
For that reason, DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said, the residue must undergo further testing to determine whether it could be dangerous.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06207/708622-57.stm
Imagine the impact -- and public reaction -- if black paint drizzled from the skies and splattered a community.
That's how Shippingport Police Chief Mike Pantaleo described what happened Saturday evening, when residue spewing from a Bruce Mansfield Power Plant smokestack rained upon part of the Beaver County borough and extended 1 1/2 miles south into Raccoon Township.
"Everything was black," Chief Pantaleo said yesterday. "Our police car was totally black. It was unbelievable. We washed it three times."
He said vehicles had to stop because the black, oily soot smeared windshields, making it impossible to drive. Roads and houses were covered with soot. Anyone wearing a white shirt suddenly discovered it was splattered black.
The state Department of Environmental Protection said laboratory tests indicate the residue was acidic and contained silica and fly ash. Fly ash, a byproduct of the coal-burning process in the 2,360-megawatt power plant, can contain potentially hazardous heavy metals.
For that reason, DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said, the residue must undergo further testing to determine whether it could be dangerous.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06207/708622-57.stm
posted by Dani @ 6:21 AM
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