Leaked soot coats homes, streets near Trenton power plant

People living in the vicinity of the power plant in Trenton, N.S., were cleaning up fly ash Monday.

The accidental release of ash from the coal-fired plant happened Sunday afternoon, spreading soot as far as a kilometre away.

The Hillside-Trenton Environmental Watch group said the soot fell like oil because of rainy conditions.

"I got numerous calls, and the cars, the houses, in between the windows, their decks just everything was covered with this black black black tarry soot," said spokesman Peter Boyles.

Nova Scotia Power has hired a mobile power wash company to scrub decks and cars to help with cleanup efforts.

Plans are underway to build a $30-million bag house to filter up to 99 per cent of the power plant's emissions.

The bag house is supposed to be completed by the fall.

But Boyles said that won't fix the problem of accidental releases, and the toxins it carries.

The Hillside-TrentonEnvironmental Watchwants Nova Scotia Power to stop burning coal in Trenton.