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.
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
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.
