News & Events
News & Events
In The News
DENR rejects new legal action against Duke Energy over coal ash
8-28-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Craig Jarvis
RALEIGH — The state's environmental regulatory agency will not bring legal action against Duke Energy over new allegations of pollution at three plants where coal ash is stored in basins, including the Cape Fear station in Chatham County.
The decision clears the way for environmentalists to sue in federal court to enforce clean-water laws that they contend the state agency is failing to pursue aggressively enough.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources contends the new allegations of violations at the Cape Fear plant, Buck Steam Station in Rowan County and H.F. Lee plant in Wayne County plants are already addressed in lawsuits it previously filed, and through more intensive enforcement action after the February coal ash spill into the Dan River. read more
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Needing Repairs, Woodlake Dam Deemed 'High Hazard'
8-22-14 | The Pilot, Moore County | By Tom Embrey
The dam out at Woodlake Country Club has several structural problems that require quick repairs, but state officials are still waiting to hear how the development plans to respond.
Officials at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources submitted a "notice of deficiency" letter to representatives of Woodlake Partners and Julie Watson at Woodlake Country Club.
The letter from Brad Cole, a regional engineer, indicates that an inspection of Woodlake Dam was conducted by staff of the Land Quality Section Fayetteville Regional Office. During that inspection several conditions were noted including: cracks in the main spillway of the dam, voids in the bottom of the principal spillway and in the right-side wing wall and excessive seepage on the downward slope of the dam.
"These conditions appear serious and justify further engineering study to determine appropriate remedial measures," The letter reads. "In the event of a dam failure, human life and significant property would be endangered. Therefore, we are listing your dam in the High Hazard category."
Woodlake Country Club is located off N.C. 690 north of Southern Pines. The 1,200-acre lake is the centerpiece of the development, which includes two golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer and Ellis Maples.
The lake's dam has been a problem for decades. In the late 1980s, the lake needed to be drained because of large holes in the dam that needed to be fixed to prevent its collapse.
The letter orders the dam owners to hire an engineer to study the conditions outlined in the letter and create plans to repair the dam. read more
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NC moves to fine Duke over coal ash pollution
8-26-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | Associated Press By Michael Biesecker
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina environmental officials moved Tuesday to fine Duke Energy over pollution that has been seeping into the groundwater for years from a pair of coal ash dumps at a retired power plant outside Wilmington.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a notice of violation to Duke over the ongoing contamination at the L.V. Sutton Electric Plant in New Hanover County. The site includes a pair of unlined dumps estimated to hold 2.6 million tons of ash.
The notice of violation is the first regulatory step toward fining the utility for violating the state's groundwater contamination laws.
The state says monitoring wells near Duke's dumps at Sutton showed readings exceeding state groundwater standards for boron, thallium, selenium, iron, manganese and other chemicals. Thallium was used for decades as the active ingredient in rat poison until it was banned because it is so highly toxic. read more
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McCrory likely to sign coal ash bill despite concerns
8-25-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Craig Jarvis
Gov. Pat McCrory appears ready to sign a bill regulating coal ash despite his concerns that it unconstitutionally usurps his power to appoint the majority of an oversight commission, a provision that he might challenge in court.
"I anticipate signing that," McCrory said during an interview on "NC SPIN," a syndicated TV show that aired on Sunday. "I'm not happy with the commission (provision), and we're probably going to have to do a constitutional challenge to that commission."
Sunday's televised remarks were the first public indication the governor has given about whether he intended to sign, veto or allow to become law without his signature the state's first coal ash regulation legislation. The General Assembly salvaged the bill on the final day of session Wednesday after disagreements between the House and Senate appeared to have killed it for this year.
McCrory also said on "NC SPIN" that establishing the commission under the Department of Public safety rather than the Department of Environment and Natural Resources "makes no sense, whatsoever." The Senate wanted to keep the commission separate from DENR because an ongoing federal criminal investigation and environmentalists' accusations have raised questions about the agency's relationship with Duke Energy.
The bill would prioritize cleanup of the 33 ponds at 14 Duke Energy power plant sites. read more
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NC House passes coal ash legislation
8-20-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Andrew Kenney
RALEIGH — The state's Coal Ash Management Act, the first of its kind in the nation, passed the N.C. House with a broad majority on Wednesday afternoon and now moves on to the Senate.
An initial tally showed the measure passed 83-14. The Senate is expected to take up the bill later Wednesday afternoon.
Much of the debate on the House floor focused on the question of whether power consumers will have to pay to clean the open-air pits now managed by Duke Energy and its subsidiary, Duke Energy Progress. The current bill only temporarily bans Duke from trying to raise consumers' rates in order to pay for the coal-ash fallout.
Earlier versions of the House's proposal would have banned Duke Energy from paying for the clean-up by requesting increased rates from customers before the end of 2016, but the chamber compromised with the Senate, shortening the moratorium to last only until January 2015.
The idea for North Carolina to oversee a coal ash program came in response to public insistence to clean up the state's 33 open-air pits, in 14 different sites, which collectively hold about 100 million tons of waste ash from coal-burning power plants.
Under the legislature's timetable, it could take 15 years to close all Duke's pits and lagoons and dispose of the ash safely. read more
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NC tells Duke Energy to submit ash removal plans
8-13-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Bruce Henderson
North Carolina's environmental agency asked Duke Energy on Wednesday to submit plans for removing coal ash from four high-priority power plants.
The letters follow on Gov. Pat McCrory's Aug. 1 executive order on ash after state legislators left Raleigh without approving an ash-disposal bill.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources asked Duke to submit plans by Nov. 15 for excavating ash at the Asheville, Riverbend, Dan River and Sutton plants. Removal would start within two months of receiving state permits.
Those four plants have been identified as high priorities since Duke submitted its own ash disposal plan in March, after a Feb. 2 ash spill into the Dan River. read more
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In late night drama, a compromise on coal ash bill fails
8-1-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By John Frank
RALEIGH — A measure to impose tougher regulations on coal ash disposal, one of the top Republican legislative priorities this session, hit a wall in the early morning hours Friday when House and Senate leaders couldn't agree on a compromise bill.
The Senate adjourned shortly after 12:30 a.m. without a vote on compromise measures put forward by either chamber and blamed the House for the impasse, saying three top lawmakers went "in a rogue direction" that derailed the legislation.
A last-minute change to the Senate's adjournment resolution added coal ash to the list of bills available for consideration when the legislature meets Nov. 17, keeping the prospect alive for a bill after the elections.
The House is likely to do the same; the chamber will meet Friday and may adjourn in the early morning hours Saturday.
The House wanted to give the state Department of Natural Resources the authority while the Senate assigned the task to an appointed commission housed outside DENR.
The company is facing pressure after a February incident spilled 39,000 tons of slurry and sludge into the Dan River north of Greensboro, underscoring the risks inherent in storing coal in giant outdoor lagoons.
The decision on the risk level would determine what actions the Charlotte-based power company would need to take to close the ponds, which environmental advocates say threaten drinking water and rivers.
Coal ash from power plants contains heavy metals, such a selenium and arsenic, that are unsafe in drinking water above certain concentrations. Duke Energy is storing about 106 million tons of the incinerated waste in open-air pits at 14 sites in North Carolina.
North Carolina is the first state in the nation to attempt to create a comprehensive coal ash cleanup program as other states await an ash-management proposal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency due later this year.
The Charlotte power company has said it could cost $10 billion to remove the material to safer facilities that are designed not to contaminate underground water sources. Duke officials have warned that cleanup proposals from the Republican-controlled legislature are too aggressive, but environmental activists say the legislative proposals leave open the possibility of leaving the ash at current locations indefinitely.
Environmental organizations have lobbied for a cleanup solution and have filed legal actions to shut down the ash pits operated by Duke's two subsidiaries, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress. read more
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Utility to pay Tennessee coal ash victims $27.8M
8-1-14 | Associated Press | By Travis Loller
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The nation's largest public utility has agreed to pay $27.8 million to settle claims from Tennessee property owners who suffered damages from a huge spill of toxin-laden coal ash sludge.
The 2008 spill happened when a containment dike burst at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant, releasing more than 5 million cubic yards of ash from a storage pond. The sludge flowed into a river and spoiled hundreds of acres in a riverside community 35 miles west of Knoxville.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan ruled in 2012 that TVA was liable for the spill. He wrote in his opinion that if TVA had followed its own policies, the problems that led to the dike failure would have been investigated and addressed.
The settlement with more than 800 property owners was announced on Friday. Varlan still has to approve it.
In a news release, TVA called the settlement a "significant milestone" and reiterated the utility's commitment to "completing the Kingston recovery project and restoring the community to as good as or better than it was before the spill."
TVA is spending $1.2 billion on the cleanup and restoration, which it expects to conclude next spring. So far, the utility has recovered $267 million from its insurers.
The announcement of the settlement comes six months after a spill at a Duke Energy plant in Eden, North Carolina, coated 70 miles of the Dan River with toxic sludge. State lawmakers are trying to find a way for Duke to clean up 33 unlined ash pits scattered at 14 coal-fired power plants, containing more than 100 million tons of toxic ash. read more
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New coal ash landfill illustrates bigger challenge for NC
7-24-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Craig Jarvis
An idea of just how big North Carolina's coal-ash problem is can be found north of the Triangle on the Virginia border in Person County.
There, one small step toward cleaning up accumulated decades of residue from coal-fired power plant combustion is about to begin at the Mayo Steam Electric Plant near Roxboro.
Environmentalists say the new landfill there is proof that coal ash can be contained more safely than in Duke Energy's leaking basins, where it threatens to pollute waterways, as shown by the February spill of 39,000 tons of coal ash and millions of gallons of wastewater into the Dan River from the plant in Eden.
"This landfill shows that Duke can store coal ash in this way, and this approach can be taken for other sites in North Carolina," said Frank Holleman, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
But there is no single landfill that is both lined and big enough to handle the 100 million tons of ash submerged in 33 water basins at 14 plants around the state. Duke officials say closing all the ponds will take 30 years, a timeline the state Senate disputes, suggesting 15 years is possible.
Last month, Duke finished construction of the Person County landfill, outfitted with the latest leak-prevention technology. The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources this month issued an operating permit for the landfill. It will soon start accepting the company's dry coal ash and eventually be covered with a synthetic liner.
But the potential success at the Mayo landfill also illustrates just how big the problem is. It took Duke Energy the better part of a decade to get to this point – the permitting process alone took nearly five years. And it has cost the company about $30 million.
Duplicating the Mayo landfill across the state isn't possible, Duke says, because each site is different.
While the new landfill will accommodate the Mayo plant's coal ash, which amounted to nearly 160,000 tons last year, the first phase of the project has a limit of about 400,000 tons. It will be able to accept ash from other Duke plants, but nowhere near the amount sitting in ponds now.
In other words, it's just a beginning.
"This is a microcosm of how complex ash management is," Duke Energy spokeswoman Erin Culbert said. read more
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Health agency says it's OK to use Dan River
7-22-14 | The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina's public health agency is recommending lifting a recreational water advisory for a river that was polluted by a massive coal ash spill in February.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommendation Tuesday comes a week after federal environmental officials said Duke Energy has completed removal of large pockets of coal ash from the Dan River.
The department says the river now poses no health risk for recreational users, but is still recommending against eating fish and shellfish collected immediately downstream of Duke's Eden plant. read more
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NSF Funds ASDSO Member's Study on Effects of Recent Coal Ash Spill
7-2014 | Association of Dam Safety Officials
The National Science Foundation has awarded a one-year $49,999 grant to ASDSO member Mustafa Altinaker (Director and Research Professor, University of Mississippi National Center for Computational Hydroscience & Engineering) for "Assessment of a coal-ash spill in Dan River on water resources downstream using numerical modeling" (National Science Foundation grant #1438582). This work provides a unique first opportunity to study a major coal-ash spill event while it is still happening, with the added benefits of guiding data collection efforts and immediately interpreting data to gain a better understanding of the consequences of coal ash spills on river-reservoir system, and developing mitigation strategies. Although coal ash spills have occurred many times in the past with disastrous consequences for humans, water resources, and the ecosystem, this will be the first time a complete investigation based on coupled one and two-dimensional modeling of unsteady hydrodynamics, sediment transport and morphodynamics and contaminant transport and fate can be undertaken. The models established for the research will also serve for long term monitoring and development of remediation approaches.
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Coal ash, fish tales and the legacy we'll leave in NC
7-5-14 | Raleigh News & Observer Op-Ed | By David Caldwell
Our technology in the energy field has not come a long way since our grandfathers' time. The ash is still basically dumped onto the ground – well, not quite. A lot of it is poured back into the earth in the form of large holding ponds or "lagoons."
The steam plant in Cliffside is storing approximately 1.6 billion gallons of ash, sludge and liquid in its coal ash ponds. All of this is perched on the banks of the Broad River. But these earthen storage lagoons cannot be permanent, no matter how well-engineered. Earthen dams with massive amounts of hydraulic pressure behind them inevitably leak. Whether in a catastrophic failure or gradually through smaller leaks, sooner or later all of this wastewater will seep into the surrounding earth and waters if it is not removed.
Duke Energy has recently agreed to remove the coal ash from two nearby facilities in Mountain Island and Asheville, beside the Catawba and French Broad rivers. What about Cliffside? Is our Broad River any less valuable than these other rivers?
A bill has been introduced in the N.C. Senate that would leave the fate of coal ash ponds to a commission, appointed by the N.C. General Assembly and the governor. Duke Power, DENR, N.C. politicians shouldn't pick and choose which of our rivers and lakes should be kept clean. Let's go ahead and remove these waste sites from all of our N.C. waterways and clean them up for our future.
I'd like to become the old-timer who can say with confidence to the young fisherman, "Yes, these are great fishing waters, and the fish are good to eat."
David Caldwell of Lawndale is a member of the Broad River Paddle Club.
read more
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Groups say coal ash dumps polluting 3 NC rivers
7-1-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Mitch Weiss
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An environmental group said Tuesday that it's planning to use the federal Clean Water Act to sue Duke Energy over coal ash pollution that threatens drinking water and public safety near three North Carolina power plants.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of several environmental groups, filed a notice of intent to sue Duke for violations at the company's Cape Fear, Lee and Buck plants.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources filed enforcement actions last year against Duke for coal-ash pollution at those plants. But the environmental law group said regulators failed to include many of Duke's violations and didn't require the $50 billion Charlotte-based company to clean up those sites.
In addition, the state didn't force Duke to take specific action to ensure that dams holding back millions of tons of toxic waste are safe, said Frank Holleman, the environmental law group's senior attorney.
The filing is the latest effort by environmental groups that say the state hasn't done enough to force Duke to clean up its coal-ash pollution. read more
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N.C. orders Duke Energy to act after finding more faulty pipes
6-27-14 | GoDanRiver.com and (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record | By Danielle Battaglia
State officials put Duke Energy on notice Thursday after finding a leak in the secondary coal ash pond at the Dan River Steam Station near Eden.
That plant was one of three coal-ash impoundments with enough problems to force the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to issue a notice of deficiency. Duke has 30 days to come up with a plan to address the issues.
After reviewing video from 33 coal ash impoundments around the state, DENR officials said Thursday they had found numerous problems at the facility on the Dan River.
Video of a horizontal pipe system used to discharge wastewater from the coal-ash impoundment showed numerous holes and leaks throughout a concrete barrel pipe.
The video shows tree roots growing throughout joints in the pipe and some joints displaced.
Several blockages prevent flow through the pipe.
"Your dam is considered a 'high hazard' dam," DENR said in its letter to Duke. "In the event of dam failure, significant environmental damage to the Dan River could occur due to the release of coal ash stored behind the dam."
But DENR isn't that concerned about this newly reported leak, at least not yet.
"If there was any kind of high risk at this point, we would have staff engineers on site," spokeswoman Bridget Munger said. read more
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NC AG: Make Duke Energy pay for coal ash fix
6-18-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By John Murawski
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper has become the latest Duke Energy critic to urge state lawmakers to spare the public from paying billions of dollars Duke would incur if the legislature forces the power company to fix leaky coal ash lagoons.
Cooper has joined a chorus of environmental advocacy groups insisting the Charlotte-based electric utility should absorb the costs of environmental compliance arising from the storage of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal at power plants.
"I realize this issue is complicated and that utilities are entitled to reasonable cost recovery in most instances," Cooper wrote to Republican Sen. Tom Apodaca, who sponsored a coal ash cleanup bill this week. "However, in this situation it is better to come down on the side of the consumer."
Duke officials have said the costs could be $10 billion if the company is required to dig up the ash in several dozen lagoons and transfer the waste to lined landfills. A reclamation project of that magnitude could cost electricity customers in North Carolina more than $20 a month.
The state's pending lawsuit against Duke's ash pits could also elicit key information.
Last week, for example, state regulators ordered Duke to submit repair plans for leaky pipes at coal ash impoundment dams at five power plants.
On Wednesday, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Protection issued another deficiency letter for gushers and drips at pipes at the company's Weatherspoon Steam Station in Lumberton. read more
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NC regulators defend governor's coal ash clean-up plan
6-5-14 | Raleigh News & Observer | By Craig Jarvis
The head of the state's environmental protection agency and his top deputies aggressively defended the governor's coal ash cleanup plan in a Senate committee Thursday.
Still smarting from criticism that the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been lax dealing with coal ash, Secretary John Skvarla took a sometimes defiant stance insisting that Gov. Pat McCrory's proposal was based on science and engineering, not special interests.
"The state of North Carolina is in charge of this process – no one else," Skvarla said.
Skvarla said the plan would close a loophole that makes it easier to dispose of coal ash than it does household waste. That provision has been in place since before DENR became responsible for the dam safety and waste-management oversight of coal-ash ponds in 2009, when Duke's disposal permit was last renewed. (DENR has regulated the industry through water discharge permits for much longer than that.)
"Where was the outrage in 2009 when the state of North Carolina still allowed the creation of a landfill for coal ash to be easier than a landfill for banana peels?" he said. read more