DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — The removal of a 2,500-ton deposit of coal ash in the Dan River from a spill in North Carolina has begun in Danville.

The toxic sludge measuring 350-by-20-yards and about 1 foot deep collected at the Schoolfield Dam after the massive Feb. 2 spill. Work began Monday and should be completed in late June.

The city’s water treatment plant also captured more than 250 tons of coal ash.

The Danville Register & Bee (http://bit.ly/1gAofAz) says the coal ash removed from the river will be transported to a landfill in North Carolina’s Person County for permanent storage.

A collapsed pipe at Duke Energy’s Eden, N.C., power plant led to the spill of 39,000 tons of coal ash that polluted 70 miles of the Dan River. Danville is about 20 miles downstream.

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Information from: Danville Register & Bee, http://www.registerbee.com

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