Pictured: The Carbon Power Plant, which closed its doors in April of 2014. Recently, a certain amount of ash infiltrated the Price River due to flooding by the plant. Officials have stated, however, that no concerns have arisen after the flooding.
Following a flash flood in Panther Canyon earlier this month near the closed Carbon Power Plant, large amounts of debris were pushed through a dry creek for nearly 40 minutes.
Toward the end of the event, the water overflowed temporary safeguards that were in place due to the closure of the ash landfill, and, due to the overflowing, a certain amount of the landfill’s ash entered the Price River, according to Paul Murphy, Rocky Mountain Power spokesperson.
The safeguards, which were installed to assist in the closing of the landfill, did prevent the occurrence of a more serious accident. At the time of the accident, the culvert of the safeguard became blocked with debris, which led to the overflow and introduction of ash into the river.
Upon the ash entering the river, state and local officials were contacted and no health concerns have been found to date, according to information from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
“We had emergency response crews on the scene cleaning up the debris and restoring flood control systems at the ash landfill,” Murphy stated via email. “We are working closely with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Utah State Engineers Office and other agencies to address any issues that may arise during this effort.”