Tagged: Coal Ash

North Carolina has filed a second lawsuit against Duke Energy in a move that puts the state’s claim that coal ash poses a threat to Charlotte’s water supply before a Mecklenburg County court.

Last week the N.C. Division of Water Quality amended an existing complaint, about ash stored at Duke Energy Progress’ Asheville power plant, to include the Riverbend plant near Charlotte.

On Friday, the division filed a separate lawsuit in Mecklenburg County Superior Court solely about Riverbend, which is operated by Duke Energy Carolinas.

Duke and Progress Energy will not have to clean up seepages from fourteen coal ash ponds, according to a ruling from the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.  Several environmental groups including the Riverkeeper Foundation say the utilities are breaking state rules by not stopping their coal ash ponds from leaking into ground water.   

Commission chairman Steve Smith says the vote was 9-to-2 in favor of Duke and Progress.

The Catawba Riverkeeper has identified a handful of places where water from Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds are seeping into Mountain Island Lake and Lake Wylie. 

Catawba Riverkeeper Rick Gaskins has found four leaks, or what are called seepages, into the two lakes that provide drinking water to the Charlotte area.  The seepages bubble up from the ground. 

“The ones that are the easiest to spot have generally an orange-ish color to them,” says Gaskins. 

A Duke University study has found high levels of coal ash contaminants in rivers and lakes downstream from coal-fired power plants. Mountain Island Lake, which provides drinking water to the Charlotte area, is one of the lakes tested that show the highest amounts of arsenic.  

The study tested 11 North Carolina lakes and rivers, and it found smaller ones like Mountain Island had the highest levels of coal ash toxins.