Two Canadian Geese stand near the Dan River in Danville. On Feb. 2, 2014, a 48-inch storm water pipe broke and between 50,000 and 82,000 tons of toxic coal ash flowed into the river. A few weeks later, a second pipe began spilling arsenic and other heavy metals into the river. The Dan River Steam Station is a 276-MW coal-fired electrical power plant, owned by Duke Energy, built in 1949 and closed in 2012.