January 22, 2009 Issue
Professors from Appalachian Team with Tennessee Aquarium Scientists To Monitor Impact of Tennessee Ash Spill on Aquatic Life
Coal ash and sludge covered several hundred acres of land and was carried into the Emory River when a 40-acre holding pond at a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-powered electric plant near Harriman, Tenn., failed on December 22, 2008. Professors at Appalachian State University are studying how the spill is affecting aquatic life in the area of the spill. Photo courtesy of Dot Griffith
A team of scientists from Appalachian State University has begun an assessment of the current status of the Emory River and the Clinch and Tennessee rivers that are fed by the Emory River, following a late-December coal ash spill.
Dr. Shea Tuberty from the Department of Biology and Dr. Carol Babyak from the Department of Chemistry will examine samples collected from the water, sediments and fish for analysis of heavy metal content. Joining them are Watauga RiverKeeper Donna Lisenby and three biologists from the Tennessee Aquarium who conducted an assessment of the fish community structure following the spill.
Babyak will examine the water chemistry and quantify heavy metals collected from water and sediment samples. She and Tuberty will also quantify metals and conduct pathology tests on fish liver, muscle, spleen, stomach, gonad and gill samples taken during this initial survey. Some of the fish collected from the river had significant amounts of ash within their stomach contents.
Live fish were collected for the study.
“All of the channel catfish collected just downstream of the spill had at least some ash in their stomach or intestines, but one fish had 34 grams of ash in its stomach, which was about 8 percent of its body weight,” Tuberty said. “That would be the equivalent of 13 pounds of ash in my stomach.”
Tuberty also noted that two of three largemouth bass collected and analyzed from two miles upstream of the spill zone had ash in their intestines, indicating that they had migrated upstream from below the ash zone to find cleaner water.
The scientists estimate that the ash layer that has settled on the bed of the Emory River is 12 feet deep closest to the spill site. The ash layer was two inches deep 3.5 miles downstream and about one-quarter inch deep 6.5 miles downstream at the Tennessee River’s Watts Bar Reservoir.
While Appalachian researchers gathered sediment samples, the crew from the aquarium helped with the fish collection. Their targeted area ranged from two miles upstream of the spill site to two miles downstream and included the area most directly impacted by the spill. During this initial assessment, the scientists observed numerous fish with clogged gills. Healthy fish gills will display a dark red color, but the fish closest to the site had gills that were filled with sediment and appeared to be dark brown in color.
“Fish absorb oxygen directly from the water across their gills,” explained Dr. Anna George, director of the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. “If the gills are coated with sediment, the fish will suffocate. This would be like a human trying to breathe in a burning building filled with smoke.”
In addition, several fish were observed with lesions and lost scales. Both are conditions that may be attributed to stress or degraded water quality. “Overall, we caught very few species within a mile of the site, and those fishes that we captured showed very obvious signs of stress from the ash sediment,” George said.
Although the initial survey findings appear bleak for aquatic species near the spill site, the scientists are planning regular monitoring of the situation to determine what long-term steps may be needed to improve the health of the affected area. “Any situation like this requires cooperation among many groups,” said Tuberty. “We just want to help provide our expertise for this effort to restore our environment for the benefit of both humans and aquatic species.”
More than 1 billion gallons of ash and sludge covered several hundred acres of land and was carried into the Emory River when a 40-acre holding pond at a Tennessee Valley Authority coal-powered electric plant near Harriman, Tenn., failed on December 22, 2008.
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