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The only thing between the Mobile River and the most catastrophic coal ash spill the United States has ever seen is a 21-foot-tall dirt and clay embankment.

This barrier is somewhere around four miles long and encloses a 597-acre pond filled with toxic ash more than 30 feet deep in places.

Barry Ash Pond Web

The 597-acre Plant Barry coal ash pond sits in an oxbow of the Mobile River. Over 50 years, more than 21 million cubic yards of coal residual has been disposed of in the pond.

Retainaing wall web

Lagniappe | A dam enclosing more than 21 million cubic feet of coal ash rises behind the eroded bank of the Mobile River.

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