On Sunday, Feb. 2, a stormwater pipe burst beneath a coal ash impoundment at Duke Energy’s retired Dan River Power Station near Eden. Duke Energy estimates that between 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash and up to 27 million gallons of wastewater have run into the Dan River as of Feb. 4.
That amount of ash is enough to fill 20-32 Olympic-sized swimming pools, for comparison the Kingston, Tenn., TVA disaster dumped more than 1 billion gallons of ash into the Clinch and Emory rivers.
This page contains links to news articles, pictures, press releases, videos and other information concerning the Dan River disaster. If you have materials to add, please email them to joan@cleanenergy.org.
“Climate Disruption is not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.” – WNCA’s campaign coordinator Anna Jane Joyner, as featured in the Years of Living Dangerously trailer .
The new Showtime docu-series, “Years of Living Dangerously,” is set to premiere on April 13. Filming took place at Duke Energy’s Asheville coal plant and the Asheville Beyond Coal rally. Also, watch for conversations with Ian Somerhalder (“Lost,” “Vampire Diaries”), Western North Carolina Alliance Organizer Anna Jane Joyner, and Beyond Coal Director Mary Anne Hitt.
We’ll keep you posted on further details as the premier approaches.
The Western North Carolina Alliance, North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light, Southwings, Riverkeeper, and the Sierra Club are the proud founding members of the Asheville Beyond Coal coalition.
We seek to:
- Lead a transition from the use of fossil fuel energy to a reliance on clean, safe and renewable energy sources
- Make energy conservation and efficiency a priority in reducing energy demand in Western North Carolina
- Replace jobs dependent on fossil fuels with jobs centered on conservation, efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
- Secure retirement of the Asheville coal plant and clean-up of any legacy pollution, including the coal ash lagoons.
February 3, 2014
Contacts:
Ulla Reeves, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, ulla@cleanenergy.org, (828) -713-7486
Amy Adams, Appalachian Voices, amy@appvoices.org, (828) 262-1500
Donna Lisenby, Waterkeeper Alliance, dlisenby@waterkeeper.org, (704) 277-6055
Tiffany Haworth, Executive Director, thaworth@danriver.org, (336) 627-6270
Bridget Whelan, North Carolina Conservation Network, bridget@ncconservationnetwork.org, (313) 919-5919
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The Dan River runs black: Initial indications estimate as much as 22 million gallons of coal ash could already be in the Dan River. Appalachian Voices and our allies are demanding accountability and disclose from Duke Energy.
Asheville, N.C. — Upon receiving news of a new coal ash disaster in North Carolina, concerned community and environmental organizations call upon Duke Energy and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources to immediately notify the public of the severity of the disaster. Groups cite recent West Virginia chemical spill as evidence for the need for immediate and full disclosure on the part of the responsible party.
Initial indications are that 22 million gallons of coal ash could already be in the Dan River headed toward the downstream communities of Eden and Danville. Eyewitness sightings claimed the Dan River was “running black” earlier today in Eden. For comparison, the Kingston Tennessee Valley Authority disaster dumped over 1 billion gallons of coal ash into the Clinch and Emory Rivers five years ago.
Both of the Dan River coal ash impoundments are unlined and carry a high hazard rating from the EPA, meaning a dam failure would cause damage to local communities and infrastructure and likely cause loss of life. Coal ash waste reads like a “who’s who list” of toxic heavy metals. From arsenic, boron, and chromium to selenium, mercury and lead, coal ash is a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems and local drinking water.
The spill comes just days after millions of gallons of sewage spilled into North Carolina’s Haw River, and state environmental officials failed to notify the public within the 48 hours that the law requires.
Duke Energy is currently in litigation for alleged pollution at all 14 coal ash dump sites in North Carolina. The utility has repeatedly claimed that its coal ash storage facilities are safe and comply with environmental protection laws. Groups have continued to call on Duke Energy to address legacy issues of toxic coal ash to ensure proper long-term storage of the hazardous waste upon closure of any coal plant.
Statements:
“Based on our experiences with the Kingston dam break, we know that toxic coal ash dumped into waters is an environmental disaster that requires swift attention and cleanup,” stated Ulla Reeves, High Risk Energy Program Director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “Downstream communities’ drinking water could be at risk and residents need to be forewarned immediately.”
“State environmental officials failed to immediately notify the public about a major toxic spill in one of our precious waterways,” said Stephanie Schweickert, affiliate organizer with the North Carolina Conservation Network. “Coal ash is extremely dangerous and the communities near the spill deserve information about their health and safety.”
“The Dan River Basin Association has a full time staff person in Rockingham County dedicated to the protection and promotion of the natural and cultural resources here. We are very concerned about the potential impact this spill will have on drinking water and the outdoor recreational economy, “says Tiffany Haworth, Executive Director of the Dan River Basin Association. “We have worked hard with community members to assure that our local rivers are clean and here for future generations, and we will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.”
“Five days after I sampled the river after the Kingston coal ash spill, I found arsenic, lead, chromium and other metals were 2 to 300 times higher than drinking water standards and the plume of coal ash stretched more than 20 miles,” said Donna Lisenby, Global Coal Campaign Coordinator for Waterkeeper Alliance. “The Dan River spill happened on Sunday and Duke Energy still has not reported the results of any water quality tests-this is unacceptable. Downstream communities need to know what pollutants Duke dumped into the Dan River.”
From the Charlotte Observer, 2/3/2014
Duke Energy said Monday that 50,000 to 82,000 tons of coal ash and up to 27 million gallons of water were released from a pond at its retired power plant in Eden into the Dan River, and were still flowing.
Duke said a 48-inch stormwater pipe beneath the unlined ash pond broke Sunday afternoon. Water and ash from the 27-acre pond drained into the pipe.
“We’ve had some temporary solutions that have intermittently worked at times during the day, but we are still working on a short-term solution and the long-term repair,” spokeswoman Erin Culbert said shortly after 9 p.m. Monday.
The pond has a liquid capacity of 155 million gallons when full, according to a recent inspection report, but was at a lower level because the Dan River power plant’s coal-fired units were retired in 2012. It’s not known how much ash was in the basin, but Culbert said most of it appears to still be in the pond.
Duke said it notified local emergency managers and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which last year sued Duke over its ash handling, on Sunday afternoon. The first public notice of the spill came from Duke at 4:03 p.m. Monday.
Environmental groups that have filed lawsuits in an effort to force Duke and other utilities to remove ash stored near waterways quickly pointed out the lapse in time before public notification.
The Dan River plant is about 130 miles northeast of Charlotte near the Virginia line.
The North Carolina environmental agency said it notified downstream water districts of the spill. The nearest municipality that draws water from the Dan River, Danville, reported no problems with its water.
Duke and the North Carolina agency took water samples from the river but said results are not yet back. Coal ash contains metals that can be toxic in high concentrations.
The pond’s dam beside the river “remains secure,” Duke said. Some erosion has occurred on the side of a berm farthest from the river, it said, and engineers are working to stabilize it.
Independent engineers who inspected the pond’s dam in 2009 for the Environmental Protection Agency found it in good condition, but they noted some seepage and recommended a stability study on the structure’s river side. Built in 1956, it was divided into two ponds in the 1970s.
The report said the dam had “significant hazard potential” if it were breached, mainly for property and environmental damage.
A security guard spotted an unusually low water level in the ash pond about 2 p.m. Sunday, Culbert said, leading to the discovery of the pipe break.
Ash was visible on the banks of the Dan River on Monday, and the water was tinted gray.
“While it is early in the investigation and state officials do not yet know of any possible impacts to water quality, staff members have been notifying downstream communities with drinking water intakes,” the North Carolina environmental agency reported late Monday afternoon.
Danville, Va.’s water intake is about 6 miles downstream of the pond.
Barry Dunkley, the city’s water director, said in a release that “all water leaving our treatment facility has met public health standards. We do not anticipate any problems going forward in treating the water we draw from the Dan River.”
A 1-billion gallon spill of ash slurry at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Tennessee in 2008 ignited national debate over coal ash.
Last week the EPA, which had been sued by two North Carolina environmental groups among others, said it would issue the first federal rules on ash-handling by December.
Duke has closed seven of its 14 North Carolina coal-fired power plants, including Dan River, and is evaluating ways to close the ash ponds at those sites. Groundwater contamination has been found around all 14 of its unlined ash ponds, although much of the contamination may occur naturally.
Ash ponds are at the Allen power plant in Gaston County near Belmont and at the Riverbend plant on Mountain Island Lake near Mount Holly.
North Carolina environmental officials, pressured by advocacy groups, sued Duke last year over ash handling at all its coal plants. Environmentalists say Duke should remove the ash from the retired ponds, as utilities in South Carolina have agreed to do.
Duke Energy’s Asheville-area coal plant
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Late Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to finalize first-ever federal regulations for the disposal of coal ash by Dec. 19, 2014, according to a settlement in a lawsuit brought by environmental and public health groups and a Native American tribe. The settlement does not dictate the content of the final regulation, but it confirms that the agency will finalize a rule by a date certain after years of delay.
A copy of the settlement can be found here.
The settlement is in response to a lawsuit brought in 2012 by Earthjustice on behalf of the Western North Carolina Alliance, Appalachian Voices; Chesapeake Climate Action Network; Environmental Integrity Project (D.C., Penn.); Kentuckians For The Commonwealth; Moapa Band of Paiutes; Montana Environmental Information Center; Physicians for Social Responsibility (DC); Prairie Rivers Network ; Sierra Club (Calif.); and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (eight southeast states)
In October, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA has a mandatory duty to review and revise its waste regulations under the Resource and Conservation Recovery Act. The EPA has never finalized any federal regulations for the disposal of coal ash—the nation’s second largest industrial waste stream.
Taking overdue action to safeguard communities from coal ash was the first promise the Obama Administration made to the American public. Former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson vowed to finalize coal ash regulations following a spill in Kingston, Tenn., where over a billion gallons of coal ash burst through a dam and damaged or destroyed two dozen homes and 300 acres of riverfront property. In the aftermath of that disaster, the EPA proposed various regulatory options in May 2010 and held seven public hearings in August and September of that year. Environmental and public health groups, community organizations, Native American tribes and others generated more than 450,000 public comments on EPA’s proposed regulation, calling for the strongest protections under the law. But since then, despite coal ash contamination at more than 200 sites nationwide, the EPA has failed to finalize the protections under pressure from industry, the White House and some members of Congress.
A timeline of coal ash events from the TVA spill to today’s settlement can be found here.
The following statement is made on behalf of the organizations involved in this lawsuit:
“Now we have certainty that EPA is going to take some action to protect us and all of the hundreds of communities across the country that are being poisoned by coal ash dumps. Since the disaster in Kingston, we have seen more tragic spills, and the list of sites where coal ash is contaminating our water keeps growing. Today, we are celebrating because the rule we need is finally in sight.
“But this deadline alone is not enough. EPA needs to finalize a federally enforceable rule that will clean up the air and water pollution that threatens people in hundreds of communities across the country. Coal ash has already poisoned too many lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater aquifers. It is time to close dangerous unlined ash impoundments like the one that burst at Kingston.
“Utility companies need to stop dumping ash into unlined pits and start safely disposing of ash in properly designed landfills. Groundwater testing is needed at these ash dumps, data needs to be shared with the public, and power companies must act promptly to clean up their mess. A rule that requires anything less than these common-sense safeguards will leave thousands of people who live near ash dumps in harm’s way.”
An online version of this press release can be found here.
For information about coal ash in North Carolina, Maryland, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, Illinois, Tennessee or other southern states, as well as the implications this decision will have locally, please contact the following representatives:
Amy Adams, Appalachian Voices, (828) 262-1500; amy@appvoices.org (North Carolina)
Diana Dascalu-Joffe, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, (703) 772-2472; Diana@chesapeakeclimate.org (Maryland)
Hartwell Carson, French Broad Riverkeeper at the Western North Carolina Alliance, (828) 258-8737; hartwell@wnca.org (North Carolina)
Mary Love, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, (502) 541-7434; mbloveky@yahoo.com (Kentucky)
Vickie Simmons, Moapa Band of Paiutes (702) 865-2910; simmonsvickie@ymail.com (Nevada)
Anne Hedges, Montana Environmental Information Center, (406) 443-2520; ahedges@meic.org (Montana)
Alan H. Lockwood MD, Physicians for Social Responsibility, (716) 836-0674, ahl@buffalo.edu (New York/Pennsylvania)
Traci Barkley, Prairie Rivers Network, (217) 621-3013; tbarkley@prairierivers.org (Illinois)
Ulla Reeves, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, (828) 713-7486; ulla@cleanenergy.org (Southeast)
For information about the lawsuit, federal legislation, or the status of the pending EPA regulation, please contact the following representatives:
Jared Saylor, Earthjustice, (202) 745-5213; jsaylor@earthjustice.org
Lisa Widawsky-Hallowell, Environmental Integrity Project, (202) 294-3282; lhallowell@environmentalintegrity.org
Kim Teplitzky, Sierra Club (267) 307-4707; kim.teplitzky@sierraclub.org
During the 2013 legislative session, the General Assembly passed a bill overhauling how the state prioritizes and funds transportation projects. There are now three pots of funding – state, regional, and local – each with a different set of criteria for determining how projects will be prioritized and funded.
Early this year, NC DOT will be prioritizing those projects in the state funding pot and, as part of that process, is holding hearings around the state to hear from citizens what projects they believe are most important. Included in this statewide category are interstate projects of statewide significance, including the I-26 Connector.
Please attend the hearing from 4-7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Haynes Building, AB Tech, Enka Campus
If you can’t attend, you can still comment by submitting a Comment Form, which can be found here. (Scroll down to Division 13.)
Tell DOT what you think about transportation generally, where state dollars ought to be invested, and what you want to see in the I-26 Connector Project specifically. Here are some talking points you may use:
- More investment of state dollars in multiple modes of transportation. From the recent GroWNC regional planning process, we know that citizens want increased investment in modes of transportation other than just vehicles – greenways, bike paths, commuter trails, transit, sidewalks. The new state funding program actually cuts the amount of state dollars going toward these modes, which takes us in the wrong direction for our health, our communities, and our environment.
- Look for low-cost but effective solutions. Cost is a large factor in the new prioritization program, and projects that are cost effective will score the best. Projects in this region continue to be larger and more expensive than they need to be (i.e. Leicester Highway and I-26) because DOT refuses to consider more context-sensitive, low cost alternatives. DOT should enable projects here to score better by looking at lower cost solutions.
- The I-26 Connector Project should minimize destruction of neighborhoods, homes, and businesses and should match the character of Asheville. NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration are still insisting on 10 lanes through West Asheville and six lanes of interstate traffic across the river. This is too large a footprint for a road that handles mostly local, not interstate traffic, and in light of state and national data showing people are driving less and less each year. DOT should consider a smaller footprint, and therefore a smaller price tag, which will help the project score better. A smaller footprint might also reduce opposition to the project because fewer homes and businesses will be lost.
- The I-26 Connector Project should result in safe travel for both interstate and local traffic. While there may be other options to achieve this, the best way to improve safety on the Jeff Bowen Bridges is to return Patton Avenue to a local street, as contemplated in Asheville’s long range plan. This will improve opportunities for bike and pedestrian commuters to downtown and will increase the tax base for the City of Asheville by opening up new opportunities for urban, mixed-use development.
- The I-26 Connector Project should improve connections for all transportation modes. This cannot be just an investment for vehicles. Asheville has invested tremendously in its bike and pedestrian infrastructure recently and wants to do even more. The City recently amended its Greenway plan to include several greenway segments that should be advanced as part of this project. Also, the more infrastructure there is for bikes and pedestrians the more those modes will be used and the less local traffic there will be on our roads, including I-26/I-240.
