Supporters of the James River rallied on Brown’s Island yesterday in protest of Dominion’s planned coal ash dumping into the James River upstream from Richmond. The group’s rallying cry on social media was under the hashtag #gatherforthejames.

The concern is focused on Dominion’s planned dumping of 357 million gallons of diluted toxic coal ash stored in ponds at its Bremo Bluff Power Station in Fluvanna (up river of Richmond) directly into the James River. Coal ash is the toxic byproduct of burning coal containing arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals.

Channel 6 has done an extensive piece on the topic titled Swimmers, river advocates concerned over Dominion’s proposed dumping permit in James. According to Brad Mclane with the Southern Environmental Law Center:

“The really bad water is the water saturating the coal ash,” McLane said. “They (Dominion) will have to provide some treatment, but not the level of treatment that we believe should occur and not at what the Clean Water Act suggests if you read the law correctly.”

#GatherfortheJames Video courtesy of Allie Hawley, music by Lobo Marino.