Duke Energy: Initial Tests Show No Harm to River From Sutton Release
September 23 2018 - 02:14PM
Dow Jones News
By Colin Kellaher
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) on Sunday said initial water tests from
its L.V. Sutton plant in Wilmington, N.C., show discharges from the
plant's cooling lake to the Cape Fear River aren't harming water
quality.
The Charlotte, N.C., utility holding company said water samples
captured on Friday upstream and downstream from the plant show
little to no impact to river water quality, with all results well
within the state's standards.
The rising Cape Fear River on Friday overtopped the dam at the
cooling lake next to a coal-ash landfill at the Sutton plant. The
flooding causing a number of smaller cuts and a larger breach on
the southern end of the 1,100-acre man-made reservoir. Duke said
crews will begin repairs to stop water exiting the south side of
the lake as soon as the river stops flowing over the north end.
Duke said the dams at two coal ash basins at Sutton remain
stable, and that while water has filled the 1971 basin, the company
believes ash is being contained by a steel wall.
Duke on Friday said lightweight hollow beads of alumina and
silica known as cenospheres--another type of waste from burning
coal to generate electricity--had entered the river. The company on
Sunday said it has deployed booms to try to capture any other
material before it leaves the lake.
The Sutton plant, which burns natural gas since the coal-fired
units were retired in 2013, was shut down Friday after the breaches
were discovered. Duke said flooding resulted in about a foot of
water throughout the plant's footprint. The company said it is
beginning to assess equipment at the plant, but noted it still has
adequate electricity to serve customers even without the plant
operating.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 23, 2018 13:59 ET (17:59 GMT)
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