North Carolina Orders Duke To Excavate Coal Ash At 6 Sites

CHARLOTTE, NC — Duke Energy has been ordered to excavate coal ash from unlined storage facilities at six sites throughout the state, including two in the Charlotte metro region, North Carolina environmental regulators said Monday.

As a result of the April 1 decision made by the North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Duke Energy Progress, LLC will have to excavate millions of tons of coal ash currently stored in unlined impoundments at six power plant facilities and dispose the material in a lined landfills.

The decision affects two Charlotte-area sites: Allen Steam Station located along the Catawba River in Gaston County, North Carolina, as well as the Marshall Steam Station, located on Lake Norman in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina.

Excavating the basis will add up to $5 billion to the current $5.6 billion cost estimate for ongoing ash basin closures, Duke Energy said.

“We are making strong progress to permanently close every ash basin in North Carolina in ways that fully protect people and the environment, while keeping costs down as much as possible for our customers,” Duke Energy said Monday in response to the ruling. “Excavation at some sites will take decades, stretching well beyond the current state and federal deadlines.”

Here’s a list of all the Duke Energy sites affected by NCDEQ’s decision:

• Allen Active Ash Basin
• Allen Retired Ash Basin
• Belews Creek
• Cliffside/ Rogers Active Ash Basin
• Cliffside/Rogers Unit 5 Ash Basin
• Marshall
• Mayo
• Roxboro East Ash Basin
• Roxboro West Ash Basin

“DEQ rigorously reviewed the proposals, and the science points us clearly to excavation as the only way to protect public health and the environment,” said DEQ Secretary Michael S. Regan.

The court decision is a win for environmental watchdogs pushing for the power company to move the waste to lined storage.

Earlier last month, the Sierra Club said the Allen Steam Station is the second most contaminated coal ash site in the nation after it analyzed groundwater monitoring data. According to the environmental non-profit organization, the coal ash dumps were built below the water table and leak cobalt into groundwater at a rate 500 times safe levels. Cobalt is linked to thyroid damage, the group said.

“Duke needs to do the right thing and move all the ash to dry, lined storage away from our groundwater and waterways,” Dave Rogers, senior representative to Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in North Carolina, said in a statement in early March.