04/12/2019
$1 billion and 10 years later, the Kingston, Tennessee coal ash spill is "cleaned up." However, the consequences of the spill are still lingering. According to National Geographic, 36 of the cleanup personnel have died from brain cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, and other diseases, and the remaining survivors are suffering from the harmful symptoms of arsenic. In the North Carolina spill, millions of gallons of contaminated coal ash washed into the Dan River that supplies drinking water to communities in North Carolina and Virginia. The long-term effects are yet to be seen. In Mobile Baykeeper director Casi Callaway’s words, “Imagine another BP Oil Disaster, but with 20 times the amount of oil that was spilled into the Gulf instead spilling into the Delta and eventually downstream through the port of Mobile and Mobile Bay. The impacts would be catastrophic.” We must learn from previous disasters. Stay tuned to hear about the possible detrimental implications to the economy in result of a spill.
PHOTO: "Frankie Norris displays the burning sores he still has and began getting soon after he started working on the cleanup a decade ago. He and other workers say they were refused protective equipment, even simple dust masks."
PHOTOGRAPH BY MADDIE MCGARVEY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
