"Bluff Collapse at Power Plant Sends Dirt, Coal Ash Into Lake"

"Oak Creek - A large section of bluff collapsed Monday next to the We Energies Oak Creek Power Plant, sending dirt, coal ash and mud cascading into the shoreline next to Lake Michigan and dumping a pickup truck, dredging equipment, soil and other debris into the lake."



"There were no injuries, and the incident did not affect power output from the plant.

When the section of bluff collapsed and slid from a terraced area at the top of a hill down to the lake, Oak Creek Acting Fire Chief Tom Rosandich said, it left behind a debris field that stretched 120 yards long and 50 to 80 yards wide at the bottom.

Aerial images show a trailer and storage units holding construction equipment tumbled like Tonka toy trucks and were swept along with the falling bluff in a river of dirt that ended in the water. ...

As a company hired by We Energies began cleanup in Lake Michigan, the utility confirmed that coal ash was part of the debris."

Meg Jones and Don Behm report for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel October 31, 2011.

Related Photo Gallery

SEE ALSO:

"Ash Landfill Could Have Caused Mudslide" (Racine Journal Times)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/02/2011