UPDATE: Cliff collapse causes mudslide at Milwaukee Co. power plant
4045196MILWAUKEE (AP) — A large section of a cliff has given way at a Wisconsin power plant, creating a mudslide that swept a pickup truck and other equipment into Lake Michigan. No injuries or power disruptions were reported.
The collapse occurred Monday morning at the coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek, a southern suburb of Milwaukee.
We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey says all employees have been accounted for.
Acting Oak Creek Fire Chief Tom Rosandich says the collapse sent a swath of debris about the size of a football field sliding toward the lake. He says authorities are investigating a sheen on the water most likely caused by fuel or hydraulic fluid.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation. A meteorologist suspects it wasn’t weather-related because rainfall has been unseasonably light.
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OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — Part of a bluff at a We Energies power plant along Lake Michigan near Milwaukee has collapsed.
Utility spokeswoman Cathy Schulze says no one has been injured. She says several construction trailers filled with equipment and tools were damaged in the bluff failure Monday at the coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek, a southern suburb of Milwaukee.
Click here for coverage from WTMJ in Milwaukee.
The bluff collapse happened on the southern part of the utility’s complex near the older power facilities, close to where pollution-control equipment is being installed.
The U.S. Coast Guard tells WTMJ-AM it has sent rescue boats to assist with the situation.
Utility spokesman Brian Manthey says officials are checking one area for soil stability, and they’re also assessing the environmental impact by trying to determine what may have ended up in the lake.
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OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — Officials at a Milwaukee County power plant say a nearby bluff has collapsed, although there have been no reports of injuries or power disruptions.
We Energies spokesman Rick White says the collapse happened Monday morning near the southern part of the utility’s Oak Creek location. He says it was near the older power facilities, close to where pollution-control equipment is being installed.
The U.S. Coast Guard tells WTMJ-AM it has sent rescue boats to assist with the situation, and to respond to a report of three vehicles involved in a mudslide.
White says the immediate priorities are to make sure all employees are accounted for, and to stabilize the land. He says officials are still trying to pinpoint a cause for the collapse.
