Sierra Club’s Emma Greenbaum holds up some of the more than 5,500 petitions delivered recently to Duke Energy urging the company to move beyond coal. Seen in the background is Duke’s coal-fired plant at Lake Julian in Asheville.
Sierra Club, Western North Carolina Alliance and Asheville Green Drinks will present the program, “Moving Beyond Coal & Coal Ash Spills” at 7 p.m. April 2 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 1 Edwin Place (corner of Charlotte Street) in Asheville.
Emma Greenbaum of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign will discuss the current status of coal ash spills, regulations, lawsuits, and plans for moving beyond coal use.
The event is free an open to the public. For more information, email judymattox@sbcglobal.net or call (828) 683-2176.
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.
WEB: www.SouthernEnvironment.orghttp://www.twitter.com/selc_org<http://www.SouthernEnvironment.orghttp:/www.twitter.com/selc_org>
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>
https://twitter.com/wnca
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 the Charlotte Observer:
‘Grand jury investigates coal ash spill’
Posted: Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources for records on Duke Energy’s coal ash spill on the Dan River.
The subpoena, dated Monday, comes from the U.S. District Court for Eastern North Carolina in Raleigh. It seeks a wide range of documents, photographs, reports and drawings for “an official criminal investigation being conducted by a federal grand jury.”
“The only thing I can say is that we will cooperate with the subpoena,” said DENR spokesman Drew Elliot.
Read more HERE.
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
For Immediate Release: February 6, 2014
Contacts:
Blair FitzGibbon, FitzGibbon Media, (202) 503-6141
Donna Lisenby, Waterkeeper Alliance, dlisenby@waterkeeper.org, (828) 297-3777
Pete Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, pharrison@waterkeeper.org, (828) 582-0422
Photos of the spill are available here.
Video of the spill is available here.
Dan River ‘highly toxic’ due to Duke Energy coal ash spill
Eden, NC – Today Waterkeeper Alliance and Yadkin Riverkeeper issued the results of water sampling from the Dan River in the wake of the third largest coal ash spill in U.S. history. A certified laboratory analysis of Waterkeeper’s samples, completed today, reveals that the water immediately downstream of Duke Energy’s ash spill is contaminated with extremely high levels of arsenic, chromium, iron, lead and other toxic metals typically found in coal ash.
Late Monday afternoon Duke Energy reported that it spilled an estimated 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash mixed with 27 million gallons of water into the Dan River near Eden, North Carolina, although Duke has not updated the initial spill estimates despite ongoing discharges for the last four days. Several groups have also criticized the state regulators for failing to alert the public of a massive toxic waste release into a drinking water source for at least 24 hours after they claim to have become aware of the spill.
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Waterkeeper Alliance took water samples from a stretch of the Dan River downstream of the spill located between Eden, North Carolina and Danville, Virginia. [See the map of samples here.]
Coal ash is a waste product from coal combustion and presents a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems and drinking water because it contains heavy metals and other toxic compounds. Laboratory results of Waterkeeper’s samples, also show that, compared to the levels found in a “background” water sample taken upstream of the spill, arsenic levels immediately downstream of the spill are nearly 30 times higher, chromium levels are more than 27 times higher, and lead levels are more than 13 times higher because of Duke Energy’s coal ash waste.
Waterkeeper’s testing found an arsenic concentration in the polluted water immediately below the discharge of .349 mg/L. Arsenic is a toxic metal commonly found in coal ash and is lethal in high concentrations. The .349 mg/L concentration found in Waterkeeper’s sample is greater than EPA’s water quality criterion for protection of fish and wildlife from acute risks of injury or death. It is more than twice as high as EPA’s chronic exposure criterion for fish and wildlife, and is almost 35 times greater than the maximum contaminant level (MCL) standard that EPA considers acceptable in drinking water.
Waterkeeper Alliance also found a lead concentration in the polluted water of 0.129 mg/L. Lead is another metal commonly found in toxic coal ash. Lead poisoning can cause developmental delays and permanent damage in exposed infants and children, as well as kidney damage and high blood pressure in adults. In very high doses, lead poisoning can cause death. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, lead poisoning in the blood causes damage to many systems in the human body, and that damage can arise after periods of exposure as short as days if the level of exposure is acute. The 0.129 mg/L concentration found immediately downstream of Duke Energy’s coal ash spill is more than double the EPA’s water quality criterion for protection of fish and wildlife from acute risks of injury or death. It is about 50 times greater than EPA’s chronic exposure criterion for fish and wildlife, and more than 1,000 times greater than EPA’s recommended action level to prevent contamination of drinking water.
Levels of other contaminants found in the sampling just below the discharge include: Manganese: .576 mg/L; Boron: .314 mg/L; Calcium: 34.7 mg/L; Zinc: .224 mg/L; and Iron: 84.6 mg/L. Even more troubling is that heavy metals released by Duke Energy are toxic and bio-accumulative. They will stay in the river, in its sediment, and in the bodies of fish and other animals for a long time to come.
“Duke could have avoided contaminating the Dan River and poisoning Virginia’s water supplies if it had removed its toxic ash heaps years ago after being warned by EPA,” said Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance.
“On Tuesday when I collected these samples, coal ash continued to spill out of the pipe into the Dan River,” said Donna Lisenby, Global Coal Campaign Coordinator for Waterkeeper Alliance. “Our sample crew on the Dan River today reports that there is still coal ash waste leaking out of the pipe. Waterkeeper Alliance is very concerned that there was a delay in the release of sample results from Duke Energy. They were aware of the spill and collected samples long before we did. Their failure to provide accurate, timely information to the public about the high levels of heavy metals contaminating the Dan River for days is extremely irresponsible.”
“The fact it took four days for Duke Energy to release heavy metals water test results is inexcusable,” says Waterkeeper Alliance Staff Attorney, Peter Harrison.
“These sample results raise great concern for the health and safety of our communities, river users and the wildlife in the Dan River Basin ecosystem.” said Tiffany Haworth, Executive Director of the Dan River Basin Association.
After Waterkeepers initiated enforcement actions for illegal coal ash water pollution at two Duke Energy coal plants in NC last year, the State filed lawsuits accusing Duke of illegal pollution discharges from leaks in its coal ash ponds at all 14 of its coal-fired power plants in the state of North Carolina. This includes Duke’s plant on the Dan River, where the State accused Duke of engineering an illegal discharge point to channel contamination leaking out of the ash pond into the river without authorization. A 2009 EPA study labeled Duke’s 53-year old Dan River ash pond dams “significant hazard potential structures.” Field inspections found the dams leaking and their surfaces sliding.
Duke stopped generating electricity at the coal plant in 2012, however the ash remains impounded at the site. While utilities in South Carolina have settled Waterkeeper lawsuits and started cleaning up their leaking ash ponds, Duke has thus far refused to responsibly address their ongoing contamination of public water supplies.
The Dan River coal ash spill appears to be the third largest in U.S. history. In 2008, a billion gallons of ash slurry spilled into the Emory River from a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Kingston, Tennessee. In 2006, 100 million gallons of coal ash spilled into the Delaware River from PPL.
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WATERKEEPER® Alliance
Founded in 1999 by environmental attorney and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and several veteran Waterkeeper Organizations, Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement of on-the-water advocates who patrol and protect over 100,000 miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. www.waterkeeper.org
Yadkin RIVERKEEPER®
Yadkin Riverkeeper’s mission is to respect, protect and improve the Yadkin Pee Dee River Basin through education, advocacy and action. It is aimed at creating a clean and healthy river that sustains life and is cherished by its people. To achieve this vision, it seeks to accomplish the following objectives: sustain a RIVERKEEPER® program, measurably improve water quality, reestablish native bio-diversity, preserve and enhance the forest canopy, bring legal action to enforce State and Federal environmental laws, and teach and practice a “river ethic” of ecological respect to all ages. www.yadkinriverkeeper.org
Dan River Basin Association
The Dan River Basin Association preserves and promotes the natural and cultural resources of the Dan River Basin through stewardship, recreation and education. www.danriver.org
From http://governor.nc.gov/:
Governor travels with his environmental agency staff to spill site in Eden
Raleigh, NC – North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory traveled to the site of the coal ash spill in Eden Thursday to direct Duke Energy to take all needed measures to control the spill so cleanup efforts can begin as soon as possible.
“This is a serious spill and we need to get it under control as quickly as possible,” Governor McCrory said. “Our top priorities are ensuring the health and safety of the public as well as the wildlife in the Dan River vicinity and the river itself, and the best way to do that is to get this controlled and cleaned up.”
A break Sunday afternoon in a stormwater pipe beneath an ash basin at the retired Dan River Steam Station in Eden caused a release of ash basin water and ash into the Dan River. Duke Energy estimates that initially 50,000 to 82,000 tons of ash was released to the river as a result of the break in the 48-inch stormwater pipe at the power plant. The company is working on a new estimate. The company also estimates that between 24 and 27 million gallons of basin water has reached the river.
As of Thursday afternoon, downstream municipal water supplies remain unaffected and are reporting that drinking water in their communities is safe to drink.
Governor McCrory was joined on the site Thursday by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary John Skvarla, the Division of Water Resources Director Tom Reeder and other senior staff in DENR.
“My staff in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has provided a thorough and comprehensive response to this spill,” Governor McCrory said. “They have been on site since we were notified of the incident to monitor water quality, provide guidance and evaluate conditions of the containment dam around the coal ash pond. We will continue to be here on-site throughout the cleanup efforts and subsequent investigation of this incident. We need to make sure this never happens again in North Carolina.”
Duke Energy is cooperating and using all its resources in this effort. Governor McCrory has directed Secretary Skvarla to review any necessary changes to laws and rules to help facilitate response to incidents like this in the future.
The state filed lawsuits for injunctive relief in 2013 against Duke Energy Progress Inc. and Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC for claims related to the discharge of wastewater from 14 of the utility’s North Carolina coal ash impoundments. The lawsuits seek a court order to require the utility to address groundwater and wastewater violations at multiple sites the utility uses to store coal ash residuals. The lawsuits have not been resolved, but the state in July proposed a consent order with the utility regarding the utility’s coal ash impoundments in Asheville and Gaston County.
“My administration is the first in North Carolina history to take legal action against the utility regarding coal ash ponds,” Governor McCrory said. “We have been moving on this issue since the beginning of my term and will continue to do so.”
– See more at: http://governor.nc.gov/newsroom/press-releases/20140206/governor-mccrory-directs-duke-energy-bring-coal-ash-spill-under#sthash.4VzwjI5A.dpuf
