A giant toxic coal ash spill that happened a month ago is still threatening the lives of wildlife. On December 22, 2008 a billion gallons of sludge mostly made up of coal ash broke through an earthen dike at the Kingston Fossil Plant. Experts say that wildlife may be threatened by the amount of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, thallium, and other toxins in the sludge. Not only is wildlife threatened but there are also human health threats. local animals that could be affected are river otters, mink, muskrat, ospreys, and black-crowned night herons. This (as we have learned in science class) can have a great effect on the food web of that area. The animals that they have rescued so far were either buried by mud or stranded when the water surge pushed them into forests and fields. Luckily, there are no endangered animals inhabiting the spill region.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/090123-coal-ash.html
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