Test determines black dust in Oak Creek is coal dust
Black dust covered cars, homes and a playground Monday in an Oak Creek neighborhood north of the Oak Creek and Elm Road power plants.
Bill Pringle of the Environmental Accountability Group said Thursday afternoon that the dust samples tested positive as coal dust.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened. This is the first time they got caught. Coal dust blowing from the piles at these plants has been a problem for decades, and We Energies knows it. We want something done about it. We Energies won’t talk to us. The mayor won’t talk to us. We need help,” said Greg Millard, an Oak Creek resident.
"The main issue here is that the dust blowing from We Energies coal piles is toxic,It's putting people's health at risk. Coal dust contains toxic heavy metals," said Dana LaFontsee, spokeswoman for the Clean Power Coalition.
We Energies operates the plant, and an executive vice president explained the dust is the result of sudden-onset winds hitting the coal piles.
"It happened very, very fast. We had winds from the southeast picked up. We started work below 25 mph, once they gusted above that we stopped work," said Tom Metcalfe of We Energies.
Coal dust contains toxic metals including lead, mercury and arsenic.
The health effects of inhalable particulate matter include aggravation of asthma, respiratory symptoms, and an increase in hospital admissions, and increased mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and from lung cancer. There is no safe level of coal dust exposure.
