Coal Ash

Charlotte-based Duke Energy will have to excavate nearly 80 million tons of coal ash from six North Carolina sites — including Allen Steam Station in Belmont — as part of a settlement between the company, the state and several community groups.

A Duke University scientist says new data shows dangerous levels of a cancer-causing heavy metal occur naturally across North Carolina, and can be a concern in drinking water wells.

The EPA wants to relax rules that govern how companies like Duke Energy can dispose of coal ash, but the proposal has some environmental groups in North Carolina concerned about how the changes might affect community health and citizens' ability to take legal action in the future.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a decision made by regulators last year to let Duke Energy charge ratepayers for coal ash cleanups.

Updated 4:53 p.m.
Duke Energy filed appeals Friday of state environmental regulators' April orders to remove coal ash at six North Carolina plants that don't already have approved cleanup plans.

Updated: 6:49 p.m.
The state Department of Environmental Quality has ordered Duke Energy to excavate coal ash from six remaining coal-fired power plants in North Carolina that don't already have closure plans. 

People who live around a half-dozen of Duke Energy coal ash sites in North Carolina have expressed strong feelings over the past few weeks about how Duke should have to clean up the ash. They want the state to order Duke to remove it.

More than 200 people came to a public meeting in Gaston County Tuesday night to let state environmental officials know how they feel about coal ash at the Allen Steam Station on Lake Wylie. Their main message to regulators and Governor Roy Cooper: They want the ash removed, here and across the state.

Residents around some Duke Energy coal ash dumps have been urging North Carolina regulators this month to require Duke to dig up the ash and move it to new, lined landfills. The last in a series of public meetings is Tuesday night, this time focusing on the Allen Steam Station on Lake Wylie.

More than 500 people packed into a school gym in Catawba County Thursday night for a public meeting about how state regulators should require Duke Energy to clean up coal ash at nearby Marshall Steam Station.

It wasn't supposed to be a public hearing, but people demanded to be heard.

The state Department of Environmental Quality has begun public meetings to discuss how coal ash should be cleaned up at six Duke Energy sites around the state. They include plants on Lake Norman and Lake Wylie.