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MountainTrue Calls for Duke Energy to Justify WNC “Modernization” Plan

MountainTrue Calls for Duke Energy to Justify WNC “Modernization” Plan

Duke Energy’s so-called “Modernization” Plan doubles down on fossil fuels and threatens to disrupt hundreds of property owners, sensitive habitats, and the visual beauty of Western North Carolina’s mountains. In an August 2 article in the Hendersonville Times-News, Duke Energy cites “explosive” growth and increased energy demand in WNC to justify both a bigger fossil-fueled power plant at Lake Julian and a massive and expensive 56-mile network of high-voltage transmission lines between WNC and Campobello, South Carolina. However, Duke has so far not provided solid data to back up their claim or an explanation WNC deserves.

While Asheville and other areas are growing, according to the NC Office of State Management and Budget, outlooks through 2020 indicate WNC will see only moderate or low population growth across all 23 counties.

Additionally, population growth does not necessarily mean a proportional growth in demand for electricity and per capita demand is decreasing with more efficient construction and appliance standards. Duke Energy’s focus on the growth of peak energy use disregards even its own programs designed to reduce consumer demand (see more about those here). These programs are working, so why not increase those efforts?

Notably, Duke has failed to show why further investment in fossil fuels is the best choice for our region rather than unlocking the full potential of renewable energy to meet electricity needs.  By moving forward with a gas-fired plant, Duke Energy is committing WNC to a dependence on fossil fuel and denying the rapidly accelerating reality of affordable renewable energy resources.

Duke Energy relies on the same population argument when justifying the need for its proposed expansive network of transmission lines, but has not provided a cost comparison for upgrading existing lines. Duke maintains that these lines are needed to supply WNC extra power during peak seasonal energy usage, but a company spokesperson told the Hendersonville Times-News that “the lines will be able to send power both ways.” It is our belief that WNC does not want to be an exporter of energy to South Carolina. And again, Duke has yet to make a convincing case for this level of infrastructure, or address whether the proposed lines impact the ability to import cleaner renewable energy from other parts of the state and country.

We still need answers. Duke is guaranteed a rate of return on all capital investments, and has a profit incentive to build both of these large projects. Duke has made broad statements of need, but still has not released a true detailed analysis demonstrating that need. All of these factors should be examined together to ensure Duke is proposing the least impactful project both in terms of the environment and rates.

In the absence of this analysis, and by locking WNC into a fossil fuel future with these oversized projects, this plan appears to be a backward-looking “Fossilization” plan rather than a true “Modernization” plan.

Want to know more? Find out if your property is in the crosshairs of Duke’s plans for transmission lines and submit your comments (whether or not you’re impacted) at bit.ly/DukeLines.

Contact: Brian Postelle, Interim Communications Manager
(828) 258-8737
brian@mountaintrue.org

MSNBC: Duke Energy admits guilt in coal ash case

MSNBC: Duke Energy admits guilt in coal ash case

Rachel Maddow reports on the guilty plea by Duke Energy to nine criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act, vindicating Riverkeeper activists who caught the North Carolina company in the act of illegal polluting.

New Report and Analysis Demonstrate Dangerous Air Pollution Levels Up To 3.5 Times Safe Limits

New Report and Analysis Demonstrate Dangerous Air Pollution Levels Up To 3.5 Times Safe Limits

** Both reports available as .pdf by request and online at http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/north-carolina/asheville/new-report-toxic-pollution **
Contacts:
Adam Beitman, Sierra Club, (202) 675-2385, adam.beitman@sierraclub.org
Melissa Williams, MountainTrue, (828) 258-8737 x 216,melissa@mountaintrue.org

Toxic Sulfur Pollution Exceeding Safe Levels in Asheville

New Report and Analysis Demonstrate Dangerous Air Pollution Levels Up To 3.5 Times Safe Limits

ASHEVILLE, NC – A new report demonstrates that Duke Energy’s Asheville coal plant has been emitting harmful sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution at levels considered unsafe by the Environmental Protection Agency for the past several years. Areas impacted include parts of South Asheville, Fairview, and Leicester, as well as trails in the Bent Creek Forest.

An air modeling study by Air Resource Specialists[1] shows that concentrations of SO2 in the air near people’s homes downwind of the Asheville coal plant are up to 3.5 times higher than what EPA has determined to be safe. According to the study, the plant’s pollution has exceeded these minimum public health standards approximately one out of every three to four days since 2010.

A separate analysis[2] of operations at the plant points to the two causes of this increased pollution: Duke apparently has not been running its pollution protection technology fully and, at the same time, has switched to cheaper, dirtier, higher-sulfur coal. The most likely reason for these changes is to reduce the cost of running this plant, which is one of the utility’s most expensive to operate.

Air pollution controls, “scrubbers”, were installed at the plant in 2005 and 2006. The analysis released today suggests that when first installed, those safeguards were run at acceptable levels, but have been turned down in recent years.

“These new findings reveal dangers to families who live in and visit the impacted area and who breathe the air that is being polluted by Duke Energy’s coal plant,” said Kelly Martin, North Carolina Representative of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

“Fortunately, there is an easy way for Duke to eliminate this health threat and restore clean air to Asheville: they can run the plant’s pollution control technology as it was designed to be operated and can return to using coal with lower sulfur content,” said Julie Mayfield, Co-Director of MountainTrue(formerly, the Western North Carolina Alliance). “We urge Duke Energy to take the steps necessary to stop their pollution and protect our families.”

Nearly 20,000 children and adults suffer from asthma in Buncombe County[3]. “It is beyond my moral imagination that Duke Energy would permit this public health hazard to endanger our community,” said Richard Fireman, M.D., retired Emergency Medicine Physician. “We know that air pollution from sulfur dioxide triggers asthma attacks and airway constriction. It exacerbates other respiratory problems including bronchitis and emphysema, requiring emergency medical treatment and hospital admissions. Sulfur dioxide can also form other toxic sulfur compounds that can aggravate existing heart disease, causing hospital admissions and unexpected, premature death.”

“While we’ve just learned about the extent and intensity of sulfur dioxide pollution in Asheville’s air, Duke’s coal plant has been a known source of pollution affecting our water and our climate for decades. It’s time for Duke to take responsibility for this pollution and protect the health of our communities, not just some of the time, but all the time,” Martin said.

Previously, watchdog groups have discovered dangerous pollution from the plant’s coal ash pits, including mercury, leaking into the French Broad River in violation of the Clean Water Act. The plant is also the largest source of carbon pollution in Western North Carolina, making it the leading contributor to climate disruption in the region.

 

[1] D. Howard Gebhart, Air Resource Specialists, Inc., Air Quality Dispersion Modeling 1-Hour Average Standard for Sulfur Dioxide: Duke Energy — Asheville Plant (Feb. 13, 2015)

[2] Ranajit Sahu, Analysis of Scrubber Operation: Duke Energy — Asheville Plant (Feb. 16, 2015)

[3] stateoftheair.org/2014/states/north-carolina/ – American Lung Association

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March 4: Update on efforts to phase out Asheville’s coal-fired power plant

N.C. Beyond Coal organizer Emma Greenbaum shows some of the thousands of petition signatures from community members asking Duke Energy to retire its coal-fired plant in Asheville. (2013)

N.C. Beyond Coal organizer Emma Greenbaum shows some of the thousands of petition signatures from community members asking Duke Energy to retire its coal-fired plant in Asheville. (2013)

Sierra Club, MountainTrue and Green Drinks will present “Asheville Beyond Coal: Update on Efforts to Phase Out Asheville’s Coal Powered Electric Plant” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 1 Edwin Place (corner of Charlotte Street and Edwin Place) in Asheville.

Emma Greenbaum, organizing representative, with N.C. Beyond Coal at Sierra Club, will give an update on the campaign to retire the Asheville coal-fired power plant, the largest single source of carbon emissions in Western North Carolina and the largest source of toxic air pollution from the industrial sector.

Greenbaum will discuss recent events and successes, as well as ways to get involved in the movement against climate disruption.

Join us to learn how you can be a critical part in the movement for a clean energy future for Asheville. Learn more at www.ashevillebeyondcoal.org.

For more information about this meeting, email judymattox@sbcglobal.net or call (828) 683-2176.

EPA coal ash rule a modest first step; doesn’t go far enough to protect N.C. communities

asheville-coal-plantThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the first-ever federal standards for the storage and disposal of coal ash aimed at protecting thousands of communities from the 140 million tons of ash pollution produced annually by America’s coal plants.

Coal ash, the toxic by-product that is left over after coal is burned, contains toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, selenium and other health threatening substances. The public health hazards and environmental threats to nearby communities from unsafe coal ash storage have been documented for decades, including increased risk of cancer, learning disabilities, neurological disorders, birth defects, asthma, and other illnesses.

For years, environmental and public health organizations have called on the EPA and the Obama Administration to impose common-sense protections for retired and active coal ash sites that treat the disposal of this toxic waste stream with the same level of scrutiny as other dangerous substances.

In 2012, Western North Carolina Alliance joined several environmental organizations and an Indian tribe to obtain a court-ordered deadline for the coal ash rule.

“After coal ash disasters in Tennessee and North Carolina,” said WNCA’s French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson, “we welcome a coal ash rule that will start to take steps towards protecting the environment and our communities from toxic coal ash.”

However, WNCA and our Riverkeeper are disappointed that the standard allows utilities to continue disposing of coal ash in ponds and does not incorporate strong federal enforcement. The standard still leaves people to largely fend for themselves against powerful utility interests that have historically ignored public health in favor of delayed action.

Moving forward, WNCA and our coalition partners will use every tool available to strengthen this EPA safeguard, pressure state governments to do more to help communities suffering from ash pollution, and work with local residents to stand up to the utilities responsible for poisoning their water and air with this toxic industrial waste.