Visit Western North Carolina Alliance’s donation page to start raising money or donate to one of this year’s paddlers.
Our goal is to raise $20,000 to continue building the French Broad River Paddle Trail℠, linking over 140 miles of the river through new campsites and access points.
Win great prizes, while protecting and improving the French Broad River Paddle Trail℠.
http://www.firstgiving.com/wncalliance
Duke Energy’s coal-fired plant sits near Lake Julian.
Press Release from the Southern Environmental Law Center
For Release: March 6, 2014
Contacts:
SELC, Kathleen Sullivan 919-945-7106 or ksullivan@selcnc.org<mailto:ksullivan@selcnc.org>
Representing:
Cape Fear River Watch, Kemp Burdette, kemp@cfrw.us<mailto:kemp@cfrw.us>, 910-762-5606
Sierra Club, Kelly Martin, 828-423-7845
Waterkeeper Alliance, Pete Harrison, 828-582-0422, pharrison@waterkeeper.org<mailto:pharrison@waterkeeper.org>
WNCA, Hartwell Carson, 828-258- 8737
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—A Wake County Judge today ruled that Duke Energy must take immediate action to eliminate the sources of groundwater contamination that are currently violating water quality standards at all 14 of its coal-fired power plants in North Carolina.
The ruling comes in the wake of recent claims by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that it lacks the legal authority to require cleanup of the ash ponds which hold millions of gallons of toxic coal ash. DENR’s comments were made in response to the February 2014 coal ash spill that dumped up to 35,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River.
“The ruling leaves no doubt, Duke Energy is past due on its obligation to eliminate the sources of groundwater contamination, its unlined coal ash pits, and the State has both the authority and a duty to require action now,” said D.J. Gerken, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center who represented the conservation groups in the case. “This ruling enforces a common-sense requirement in existing law – before you can clean up contaminated groundwater, you first must stop the source of the contamination- in this case, Duke’s unlined coal ash pits.”
Data collected by DENR over several years indicates that many of Duke’s coal-fired power plants are causing groundwater contamination by storing hazardous coal ash in unlined pits often adjacent to major bodies of water, including drinking water reservoirs. The state has asserted however that it can take no action without first determining how far contamination has spread and that it lacks the legal power to require Duke to remove ash from the ponds. Today’s ruling clarifies the State’s authority under the North Carolina groundwater protection law to require Duke to stop the ponds from further contaminating groundwater, before it tackles the long term challenge of cleaning up the groundwater it has already polluted.
“Duke’s toxic legacy in North Carolina needs to end, and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources won’t do its part to protect our water,” said Kelly Martin, senior campaign representative with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “Clean water is our right, and if Duke Energy won’t do the right thing even after the Dan River coal ash spill, we’ll keep fighting to hold them accountable.”
Although almost all of the unlined coal ash ponds in the state have been in operation for decades– some for as many as fifty years–the ponds went largely unregulated until December 22, 2008 when a dam burst at the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant causing the largest coal ash spill in the history of the United States. The February 2014 spill on the Dan River was reportedly the nation’s third largest coal ash spill, coating the Dan River with some 70 miles of toxic ash.
“Arsenic has been detected at levels exceeding legal standards in the groundwater at the Dan River plant at every sampling event since January 2011,” said Pete Harrison with the Waterkeeper Alliance. “If the state had exercised its authority to require cleanup of those ponds previously, the catastrophic February 2014 coal ash spill could have been prevented. The time to use this authority to require cleanup at other plants around the state is now, before another disaster occurs.”
Lawsuits filed by DENR earlier this year against each coal-fired power plant in the state allege that Duke Energy is violating state groundwater standards with contamination at several of its plants. Those violations include thallium at the Asheville plant near the French Broad River and arsenic and selenium at the L.V. Sutton plant on the Cape Fear river. Groundwater contamination at both facilities has been shown to be spreading towards local communities and water resources. Duke has already been forced to buy out neighboring property because of contaminated groundwater and to supply alternate drinking sources to nearby homeowners at several of its plants – but has not yet stopped the source of the contamination.
“To effectively address contamination, you have to address the cause of that contamination,” said French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson. “Bailing water out of a boat with a hole in it doesn’t do you any good; you’ve got to fix the hole first. Today’s ruling means Duke will have to address the source of the thallium contamination in Asheville that is spreading toward our neighborhoods and river.”
Conservation groups are hopeful that the ruling will move the state to use its authority to require that the ash be removed from the ponds and stored in dry, lined landfills. The ruling comes as Duke ceases coal-burning operations at several plants and prepares closure plans for the aging coal ash ponds. The L.V. Sutton plant in Wilmington is among those plants which has converted to natural gas in lieu of coal.
“It would be a disaster to allow Duke to leave the coal ash ponds at the Sutton plant in place as it converts to natural gas,” said Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette. “The ponds have already caused decades of contamination, leaching selenium and other dangerous contaminants into our groundwater and river to the point the community can no longer utilize the groundwater resources in a 17-square mile area because it is too contaminated. If Duke closes the Sutton plant and leaves the ash in place it is the citizens that will bear the cost – it’s time for the state to require Duke to remove the ash.”
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About Southern Environmental Law Center
The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional nonprofit using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC’s team of more than 50 legal and policy experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.
About Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 1.4 million members and supporters nationwide. The Sierra Club works to to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying and litigation.
Visit us on the web at www.sierraclub.org<http://www.sierraclub.org> and follow us on Twitter at @sierra_club.
About Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance unites more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations that are on the front lines of the global water crisis patrolling and protecting more than 1.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Waterkeepers emphasize citizen advocacy to defend the fundamental human right to swimmable, drinkable, and fishable waters, and combine firsthand knowledge of their waterways with an unwavering commitment to the rights of their communities and to the rule of law.
About WNCA
For more than 30 years, the Western North Carolina Alliance has been a trusted community partner, marshaling grassroots support to keep our forests healthy, our air and water clean, and our communities vibrant. WNCA empowers citizens to be advocates for livable communities and the natural environment of Western North Carolina.
www.wnca.org<http://www.wnca.org>
About the Cape Fear Riverkeeper
Cape Fear River Watch was founded in 1993 and began as a nonprofit organization, open to everyone, dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the health, beauty, cleanliness, and heritage of the Cape Fear River Basin. CFRW’s mission is to “protect and improve the water quality of the Lower Cape Fear River Basin through education, advocacy and action.” CFRW supports the work of the Cape Fear RIVERKEEPER, a member of the WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE.
www.capefearriverwatch.org<http://www.capefearriverwatch.org>
From 10 a.m.-4 p.m.on March 6, WNCA and our French Broad Riverkeeper will be building a new stairway from the river at the Rhodes Ranch campsite on the French Broad River Paddle Trail℠.
We’ll meet in the Ingles parking lot (6478 Brevard Road, Etowah).
This work will involve heavy machinery and tools to cut down trees and debris. Please bring chainsaws, loppers, gloves, lunch and water. (Let us know if you don’t have these tools.)
We always have fun working on the Paddle Trail and making it even more awesome for users. If you’d like to lend a hand, please RSVP to Kirby@W NCA.org with your phone number and what tools, if any, you can bring.
Thank you and see you on March 6!
Below is a summary of our French Broad Riverkeeper’s work and observations about the oil spill at Hominy Creek on Feb. 14. WNCA has gathered information on how you can help us stop this type on incident from happening again.
What You Can Do:
Current state law requires the responsible party of a spill (oil, sewage, etc) to notify the public within 24 hours. The state then has 48 hours to notify the public. This law needs to change to ensure the state is notified immediately and that the public is also notified immediately.
Contact your legislator and let them know we want them to act on this issue:
There must be better communication from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the public. DENR should use existing technology (Twitter, Facebook, email, etc.) to notify the public and impacted municipalities immediately. Also, additional oil storage facilities should be inspected to make sure they are properly constructed and maintained to prevent future spills.
Contact DENR to let them know oil facilities should all be inspected and that the public needs good timely information to protect human health and the environment.
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Video: French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson got an update Feb. 16 about the Hominy Creek oil spill from EPA emergency response coordinator Terry Stillman. Stillman shared information on the cleanup effort and what the community can expect over the coming days and weeks.
French Broad Riverkeeper’s summary of events surrounding the Hominy Creek oil spill:
At about 1:30 p.m. on Friday Feb. 14, workers at the Vulcan Materials Co., noticed oil running through their property.
Oil bubbling out of the sediment when stirred up.
They quickly built berms and basins to try to prevent the oil from entering Hominy Creek, which dissects Vulcan’s quarry. Workers at the quarry notified Harrison Construction Co., that the spill originated from the company’s 20,000 gallon fuel oil tank, which was leaking.
Harrison Construction reported there were 5,800 gallons in the tank at the time of the release, and about 5,000 escaped the tank. A portion of that oil was captured on site before entering Hominy Creek. The oil leaked from the tank when a coupling failed. The concrete containment system, that is required by law, also failed, because the drain valve was left open. The drain valve is used to drain rain water, but is supposed to remain closed in the event of a spill.
The Feb. 17 edition of the Asheville Citizen-Times quoted Harrison Construction President Todd Quigg as saying he “does not know whether human or mechanical error, or a combination, is to blame for allowing diesel fuel leaking from a tank to escape a secondary containment system and get into Hominy Creek through a storm water runoff pipe.”
WNCA’s French Broad RiverkeeperHartwell Carson and Asheville Greenworks’ Volunteer/Clean Communities Coordinator Eric Bradford talk on scene with EPA Emergency Response staff.
NEO Corp., an environmental remediation company, was on the site shortly after the spill and began to use a vacuum truck to remove oil that had pooled up on the site. Around 3 p.m., as required by law, Harrison Construction called the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to report the spill.
Harrison Construction reported that the spill was contained, and it was not until additional calls were made by the public that the local fire department, then DENR, and then EPA from Atlanta responded.
It is still unclear why the spill was reported as contained and what DENR did to investigate the original call.
The Buncombe County Fire Marshal surveyed the river Friday at about 6:30 p.m., finding oil as far downstream as East Oakview Road. He instructed the company to place oil absorbent booms at Hominy Creek Road, downstream where they observed oil in the creek. No booms were placed in the river prior to the fire marshal’s instructions. It is still unclear why Harrison Construction did not try to remediate the oil in the creek, prior to instructions from the fire marshal. DENR arrived on the scene sometime after 6 p.m., and EPA arrived a few hours after that. Oil absorbent booms were placed in the river that afternoon and evening. Booms were placed overnight and based on what was visible Friday it was believed the spill had not reached the French Broad River. The spill was reported in the media by WLOS TV at 9 p.m. on Friday night, but it was reported as being contained.
Local photographer Bill Rhodes noticed the spill on Saturday morning, at the spot where Sand Hill Road crosses Hominy Creek, near Biltmore Lake. Rhodes also saw that the oil at Hominy Creek Park was entering the French Broad River and a few miles down the French Broad River at French Broad River Park.
Rhodes called the fire department, and crews then installed additional booms across Hominy Creek, just before it enters the French Broad River. WNCA French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson and Eric Bradford of Asheville Greenworks saw and reported lots of oil visible on the river at about noon on Saturday.
EPA and the hired cleanup contractor, ERC, put oil absorbent pads in the eddy where oil gathered on Pond Road. The original oil boom is visible with the hard plastic boom that was added Feb. 15.
Booms were also added in a few other locations along Hominy Creek on Saturday, and Saturday night additional hard plastic booms were added to support the soft absorbent booms.
As of Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 18), a lot of oil remained in all parts of Hominy Creek. The fuel oil smell was still heavy, and there was sheen and some product visible in the water
EPA and DENR both say it will take some time before all of the oil sheen is gone from the creek.
DENR has taken water samples to investigate the impact of the spill and WNCA will be watching the spill, cleanup, enforcement and impact to the river closely to fully understand what went wrong, what impact there is to the river, and what can be done better in the future to make sure this type of incident does not happen again.
Feb 19: Five days after the Hominy Creek oil spill, you can still smell fuel at the creek. Our French Broad Riverkeeper reports that as many as five hours passed before cleanup crews took measures to protect area rivers. Click here to view the story.
Feb. 25: Asheville Fire Chief Scott Burnette releases a PowerPoint updated on the Hominy Creek oil spill. See it here.
Feb. 26: From the Asheville Citizen-Times: “State environmental officials issued a notice of violation to the company blamed for spilling thousands of gallons of fuel oil and contaminating Hominy Creek. Harrison Construction Co. faces fines of up to $25,000 per day for each of three violations cited in the notice, said Chuck Cranford of the N.C. Division of Water Resources. Meanwhile, Cranford said cleanup efforts to contain the fuel spilled on Feb. 14 have concluded and the creek appears to be free of contaminants.”
The following letter was hand delivered and emailed to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory today, on behalf of WNCA and the undersigned groups.
Photo: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/
February 12, 2014
Governor Pat McCrory
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699
Dear Governor McCrory:
We are writing on behalf of our organizations and members to urge you to use all resources at your disposal to ensure that Duke Energy protects North Carolina’s drinking water, rivers, and lakes by removing all coal ash and contaminated soil from antiquated coal ash lagoons to safe dry storage in lined landfills away from our waterways.
We agree with your statement, “we need to make sure this never happens again in North Carolina.”
There is only one way to accomplish this goal: Duke Energy’s coal ash must be removed from its leaking, aging, and dangerous coal ash lagoons beside our rivers, lakes, and drinking water reservoirs to modern, dry storage in lined landfills away from our waterways. That is what North Carolina requires for our kitchen wastes and municipal garbage, and we should require nothing less of toxic coal ash.
As the Governor of the state and a former employee of Duke Energy, you are uniquely positioned to overcome institutional recalcitrance and actually clean up the coal ash lagoons that threaten North Carolina’s citizens and waters once and for all. You have the power to direct the priorities of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to introduce legislation, to call upon personal ties with the nation’s largest utility and to use the bully pulpit to engage the public in supporting effective action now.
The Dan River disaster was entirely predictable. Since the spill at Kingston in 2008, scientists, citizens, and conservation organizations have been warning that unlined coal ash lagoons like those across North Carolina are disasters waiting to happen. DENR has stated under oath that all of Duke Energy’s coal ash storage locations in North Carolina are operating illegally by violating Clean Water laws.
Further, DENR has stated under oath that the pollution from these coal ash facilities is a serious threat to public health, safety, and welfare and to the water resources of the state.
Yet Duke Energy continues to store its coal ash in this dangerous and outmoded way. Meanwhile, the two other major utilities in the Carolinas, SCE&G and Santee Cooper, have agreed with conservation groups to empty out their unlined lagoons; SCE&G has already removed 600,000 tons of ash. The solution to this problem is known; so, North Carolinians should get the same protections that South Carolinians have.
We are disappointed that, under your administration, DENR has not required Duke Energy to clean up its coal ash pollution or its coal ash lagoons. Instead, DENR has filed actions at the last minute to prevent local citizens groups from enforcing the Clean Water Act against Duke Energy, has refused to consent to the participation of North Carolina conservation groups in the state enforcement proceedings, and has entered into a proposed sweetheart settlement with Duke Energy, which DENR has now asked the Court to stop considering.
It is not enough to direct Duke Energy to clean up the Dan River spill. Duke Energy is required to take that action, anyway.
Only by requiring Duke to remove coal ash from its dangerous lagoons can you protect our citizens and our precious clean water.
On behalf of the tens of thousands of North Carolinians represented by this letter, we urge you to use all the powers of your office to immediately initiate effective action.
Sincerely,
American Rivers
Peter Raabe
NC Conservation Director
Appalachian Voices
Amy Adams
NC Campaign Coordinator
Cape Fear River Watch
Kemp Burdette
Cape Fear Riverkeeper
Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation
Sam Perkins
Catawba Riverkeeper
Clean Water Action
Jennifer Peters
National Water Campaigns Coordinator
Clean Water for North Carolina
Sally Morgan
Water Justice Researcher and Organizer
Earth Justice
Lisa Evans
Senior Administrative Counsel
Environmental Integrity Project
Eric Schaeffer
Executive Director
Greenpeace North Carolina
Monica Embrey
Field Organizer
Haw River Assembly
Elaine Chiosso
Haw Riverkeeper
Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation
Matthew Starr
Neuse Riverkeeper
North Carolina Conservation Network
Brian Buzby
Executive Director
Sierra Club North Carolina Chapter
Molly Diggins
State Director
Sierra Club, Beyond Coal Campaign
Kelly Martin
Senior Campaign Representative
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Ulla Reeves
High Risk Energy Program Director
Southern Environmental Law Center
Frank Holleman
Senior Attorney
Waterkeeper Alliance
Donna Lisenby
Global Coal Campaign Coordinator
Waterkeepers Carolina
Heather Ward
Executive Director
Western North Carolina Alliance
Julie Mayfield
Co-Director
Western North Carolina Alliance – French Broad Riverkeeper
Hartwell Carson
French Broad Riverkeeper
Press Release from the Southern Environmental Law Center
For Immediate Release: Feb. 10, 2014
Contact:
Kathleen Sullivan, 919-945-7106 or ksullivan@selcnc.org
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The Southern Environmental Law Center commented on the late-evening request of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources asking the North Carolina State Court to delay judicial review of its consent order with Duke Energy over coal ash contamination of rivers, lakes and groundwater across the state.
“There is no reason for DENR to conduct yet another review of illegal, dangerous, and primitive storage of coal ash by Duke Energy in North Carolina,” said Frank Holleman, senior attorney for Southern Environmental Law Center. “DENR has been studying Duke Energy’s coal ash for years and has never taken action to enforce the law until conservation groups forced it to act. Now, instead of taking action to clean up coal ash pollution and protect the public, DENR is going back to the drawing board and proposing to delay action for who knows how long. It is time to act, not to delay.”
Late on Monday, DENR asked the Court to stop its consideration of the proposed deal between Duke Energy and DENR to settle the enforcement action against Duke Energy’s illegal pollution of Mountain Island Lake near Charlotte, the French Broad River in Asheville, and groundwater in both communities. DENR states that because of the disaster on the Dan River where Duke Energy’s coal ash lagoons have spilled large quantities of coal ash pollution into the River, DENR will now undertake a “comprehensive review” of all of Duke Energy’s coal ash facilities in North Carolina. For that reason, DENR has pulled back its request that the Court approve the settlement it reached with Duke for an indefinite period.
“We certainly agree it is time to pull this hasty settlement deal, but DENR should now get on with the business of enforcing the law,” said DJ Gerken, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center who represents conservation groups in Asheville. “It is dangerous to store coal ash in unlined pits next to drinking water supplies and rivers, where it illegally pollutes and can spill catastrophically into our waterways. If South Carolina utilities can clean up their coal ash mess, there is no reason why Duke Energy can’t do the same thing in North Carolina.”
In South Carolina, utilities are already working to remove coal ash from dangerous river-side coal ash lagoons. SCE&G and Santee Cooper have reached settlements with conservation groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center to empty out dangerous lagoons. SCE&G has already removed 600,000 tons of coal ash.
The Southern Environmental Law Center and its clients have been urging DENR and Duke Energy for months to move the dangerously-stored coal ash to safe storage in dry, lined landfills away from waterways. This is the method of storage required for household and municipal waste.
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The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional nonprofit using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC’s team of nearly 60 legal and policy experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use. www.SouthernEnvironment.org