A farmer shows soil polluted by coal ash.
Ash chokes the sky above a coal ash dam owned by the Shentou Number 2 Power Plant, in Shuimotou village, Shuozhou, Shanxi province. With even the lightest wind, the tiny particles take flight, blotting out the sky like a thick sandstorm of ash, highly hazardous to people, as the fine particles are easily inhaled. Lu Youlong, a local who works nearby, said that contaminated water has seeped from the ash dam into village fish ponds, killing all the fish. Many fields have also developed puddles of alkaline water, making it impossible to grow crops.