Selenium pollution from the E.W. Brown Electric Generating Station was investigated in Herrington Lake, KY. Coal ash wastewater is discharged as surface water overflow from ash disposal ponds into the lake via a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Kentucky Division of Water, but the permit does not restrict or limit the amount of selenium released. Unpermitted discharges occur from seeps and drainage through leaks in ash pond dams. Together, these discharges have resulted in selenium concentrations in water, sediment, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish that are 2–9 times the level that is toxic for fish reproduction and survival. A large proportion (12.2%, or 25 times background) of juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides, the only species examined) exhibited spinal and/or craniofacial malformations that are consistent with selenium poisoning. Teratogenic Deformity Index values indicated a 3.05% population-level impact on the bass fishery, with total selenium-induced mortality (including pre-swimup mortality) estimated to be in excess of 25% per year. These findings confirm that coal ash discharges into Herrington Lake are contributing selenium to the Lake that is poisoning fish.

在肯塔基州赫灵顿湖对EW布朗发电站的硒污染进行了调查。通过由肯塔基州水务局颁发的《国家污染物排放消除系统》许可，粉煤灰废水作为地表水从灰烬处理池中溢流到湖中，但该许可并不限制或限制硒的释放量。渗漏和排污是通过灰池大坝的渗漏产生的，是不允许的排放。这些排放共同导致水中，沉积物，底栖大型无脊椎动物和鱼类中硒的浓度是对鱼类繁殖和生存有毒水平的2–9倍。很大一部分（大背景鲈鱼）（12.2％，或本底的25倍），只有受检物种）表现出与硒中毒相符的脊柱和/或颅面畸形。致畸畸变指数值表明，该种群对鲈鱼渔业的影响为3.05％，硒引起的总死亡率（包括游泳前死亡率）估计每年超过25％。这些发现证实，排入赫灵顿湖的煤灰正在使硒中毒，从而使鱼类中毒。