September 25, 2025
Plant Barry’s Arsenic Levels Comparable to Those at Kingston After Coal-Ash Spill, a New Study Finds
In an alarming new study, scientists have discovered arsenic and cadmium levels in river sediments adjacent to the Plant Barry coal-ash pond that are comparable to — or in some cases, exceed — levels found on-site after the 2008 TVA Kingston coal-ash spill, the worst industrial disaster by volume in U.S. history.
Arsenic and cadmium are toxic metals that can cause cancer, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, neurological and developmental problems, with arsenic also linked to skin lesions and diabetes, and cadmium to bone-weakening.
The study was conducted by Natasha T. Dimova, Stephen Anderson (Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama), and Dini Adyasari (Department of Marine and Coastal Environmental Science, Texas A&M University). It was published in the peer-reviewed international journal Science of the Total Environment. According to its authors, the study sought to identify “sources of heavy metal pollution in suspended sediments and surface water in the Mobile River near the Plant Barry ash pond.”
Read the full study published in Science of the Total Environment.
“Prior to our study, there was limited seasonal testing of heavy metal levels in the area of the Plant Barry coal-ash pond,” says Dimova, the Principal Investigator and a co-author of this study. “Our results show that near the coal power plant’s discharge channel, during the dry season, arsenic and cadmium levels in suspended sediments are close to those found at Kingston after the 2008 spill. Our goal is to raise awareness about this issue and to protect ‘North America’s Amazon.’.”
The 2008 Kingston TVA spill, an event which thrust the issue of coal-ash storage onto the national stage, is believed to have contributed to approximately 50 deaths and 250-plus illnesses related to toxic exposure from cleanup efforts.
In September 2022, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Mobile Baykeeper, filed a lawsuit against Alabama Power in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
The lawsuit, which is currently on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, challenges Alabama Power’s cap-in-place closure of the impoundment, leaving more than 21 million tons of toxic coal ash along the banks and in the floodplain of the Mobile River, as violating federal coal-ash rules enacted in 2015 under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Oral arguments for the appeal took place in Atlanta on September 18.
In March 2023, the EPA issued a Notice of Potential Violation to Alabama Power for its storage of coal-ash at Plant Barry, stating that the power utility had “potentially violated” federal standards.
In 2024 Alabama Power issued a press release stating it plans to recycle some of the coal ash at Plant Barry. Details of its plans remain unclear, with no binding requirements currently in place for the plan to be implemented.
“The community has made it clear: they want all of the coal ash at Plant Barry removed,” says Cade Kistler of Mobile Baykeeper. “Georgia Power, Alabama Power’s sister company, is already recycling 65 million tons and removing all the ash from their coastal sites. Alabama Power says it plans to recycle some of the coal ash at Plant Barry, but Alabama Power’s public statements aren’t enough – we want to see a real, binding commitment to remove all the ash.”
Our community deserves the same.
Tell regulators and Alabama Power: remove the ash.
