5.5 Energy Production and Mining
concentrations, can also include arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, sele- nium, and strontium (Rowe et al. 2002; Patra et al. 2012; Souza et al. 2013) . In many cases, the priority for remediating spill sites is the removal of ash by dredging to prevent transport and dis- persion during storm events and to prevent upstream fooding (Mathews et al. 2014) . Fish and wildlife damage from exposure to coal ash slurry ranges from physiological, developmental, and behavioral toxicity to major population and community-level changes (Lemly and Skorupa 2012) . Te earliest reported coal ash pond failure in North Carolina occurred in 1976 and resulted in selenium poisoning that extirpated 19 species of fsh in Belews Lake (Lemly and Skorupa 2012) . Following a 2008 release of coal ash in Tennessee, an assessment of efects on aquatic species found low potential exposure risk to selenium in Tree Swallows and bats; to aluminum in Mink, Killdeer, Mallard, and Raccoon; and to arsenic in Killdeer (Meyer et al. 2014) . Other studies conducted by Bryan et al. (2003, 2012) evaluated the risk to birds attracted to coal ash settling basins for nesting and the exposure of nestlings to contaminated food. Results indicate arsenic, cadmium, and selenium concentrations were elevated in feather, liver, and carcass, but only liver selenium concentrations approached levels of concern (Bryan et al. 2003, 2012) . Exposure is suspected to occur from bioaccumulation concentrations in the food chain, primarily through insects consumed by insectivores and omnivores. Because selenium builds up through the food chain rather than through aqueous expo- sure, tissue selenium concentrations may increase gradually over a period of several years (Mathews et al. 2014) . Tissues from Raccoons exposed to coal ash showed higher levels of arsenic in hair, iron in muscle, nickel in hair, selenium in hair and muscle, strontium in hair, and vanadium in hair and liver when compared to unexposed animals (Souza et al. 2013) . However, long-term monitoring is needed to understand the factors that control when coal fy ash contami- nants are more likely to biomagnify (Mathews et al. 2014) . Coal-fred power plants pump large volumes of water to produce electricity. Aquatic organ- isms can be entrained or impinged unless measures are sufcient to keep organisms from being impacted. After water is used for electricity production, it is returned to surface waters but the temperature can be considerably higher than the temperature of the receiv- ing waterbody. Heated discharge can create refugia for nonnative species and alter aquatic community composition.
5.5.3 Oil and Gas Extraction—Anticipated Impacts North Carolina has limited oil and gas reserves within shale deposits in the Triassic Basin of the Piedmont ecoregion, primarily in the Durham, Sanford, and Wadesboro
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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