Thursday 6 a.m.  (AP) — Utility officials and an environmental group disagree about the effect of a Springfield fly-ash release.

The City Utilities spokesperson says the cloud of ash that billowed over part of a Springfield on Tuesday posed no threat to residents or the environment. But Sierra Club state chapter director John Hickey says the utility “has exposed people to a dangerous pollutant.”

While the ash is made mainly of silica, it also contains trace amounts of arsenic, lead and mercury.

The ash is a byproduct of burning coal and normally is captured in a scrubber system. City Utilities says a malfunction allowed the ash to be emitted from the John Twitty Energy Center. The powdery substance coated cars, homes and lawns as far as three miles away.

 

(AP) — A power plant malfunction has caused fly-ash to billow over part of Springfield.

City Utilities spokesman Joel Alexander says the ash is normally captured in a scrubber system. But the malfunction allowed the ash to be emitted through the top of a stack at the John Twitty Energy Center and into the atmosphere.

The emission lasted nearly 40 minutes, leaving cars and houses coated with ash. Alexander says the equipment was repaired, and the power plant is operating normally again.

The malfunction was reported to the Department of Natural Resources. Alexander says the utility continues to investigate. The amount of fly-ash that was released hasn’t yet been determined.

The utility is offering free car washes to people whose vehicles were parked in affected areas.