The RT Review Newsletter

e-Edition: January 2020

DUKE ENERGY AGREES WITH SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER TO CLEAN UP COAL ASH

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Duke Energy Corp. has agreed to move 80 million tons of coal ash to lined landfills at six power plant sites in what state regulators are calling the biggest cleanup of its type in U.S.history.

The company said it would cost $8 billion to $9 billion to close all of its ash basins in the Carolinas, including the six power-plant sites.

The compromise between Duke Energy, state regulators and environmental groups likely puts an end to a years-long legal dispute in North Carolina over the environmental risks of the disposal of coal ash.

Coal ash is a byproduct of coal-fired power plants, which scrub potential air pollutants from their emissions. That ash can contain arsenic, selenium, lead and mercury. Coal ash has been commonly stored in pits on-site at power plants, which are often located near rivers and lakes since they need water to produce steam.

Duke said the agreement was reasonable, prudent and "a major achievement that puts the coal ash debate to rest in North Carolina."

Frank Holleman, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the settlement ensures that North Carolina's water will be safer than it has been in decades.

Michael S. Regan, secretary of the state's Department of Environmental Quality, said the agreement ensures
public health and protects natural resources. "We are holding Duke accountable and will continue to hold them accountable for their actions," Mr. Regan said. Coal ash became a flashpoint in the state in February 2014, when a metal pipe running underneath an aging waste-storage pit poured tons of slurry into the Dan River in the central part of the state. In 2018, heavy rains from Hurricane Florence washed out a small portion of a coal-ash landfill near Wilmington, allowing some material to spill into a nearby lake.

Duke has long said it was acting responsibly by gradually phasing out coal-fired plants and ensuring previously generated material was safely stored at more than two dozen sites across the state. Some of the storage basins were lined but many weren't.

Environmentalists have said the material posed significant health risks, as it could leach into groundwater or flow from faulty basins into nearby bodies of water.

The agreement extends the life of some coal-ash recycling facilities, allows a few old, covered landfills below newer uncovered ones to remain intact and expedites the permitting process, according to a Duke spokeswoman.

The company will gradually be removing coal ash over the years, with the goal of closing all basins by the year 2034, the spokeswoman said.

"Five years from now, a heckuva lot of ash will be gone," said Mr. Holleman, the environmental lawyer. "Every year that goes by, the level of pollution and the risk of catastrophe is being reduced."
(By Valerie Bauerlein – Wall Street Journal – 1-3-20)

Chris Blosenski and Gary Brown, P.E. of RT prepared reports on many of the sites for the Southern Environmental Law Center. Gary is a North Carolina P.E. and previously testified in a case where coal ash piles in North Carolina collapsed, as coal ash from the liners went down many rivers and impacted residences in Tennessee. The Tennessee Valley Authority was held responsible for the coal ash releases, considered one of the all-time world’s worst environmental disasters.