Duke Energy Agrees to Coal-Ash Cleanup Settlement
January 02 2020 - 3:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Valerie Bauerlein
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Duke Energy Corp. has agreed to move 80 million
tons of coal ash to lined landfills at six power plant sites in
what state regulators are calling the biggest cleanup of its type
in U.S. history.
The compromise between Duke Energy, state regulators and
environmental groups likely puts an end to a yearslong legal
dispute in North Carolina over the environmental risks of the
disposal of coal ash.
Coal ash is a byproduct of coal-fired power plants, which scrub
potential air pollutants from their emissions. That ash can contain
arsenic, selenium, lead and mercury. Coal ash has been commonly
stored in pits on-site at power plants, which are often located
near rivers and lakes since they need water to produce steam.
Duke, one of the nation's largest utility companies, said the
agreement was reasonable, prudent and "a major achievement that
puts the coal ash debate to rest in North Carolina."
Frank Holleman, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law
Center, said the settlement ensures that North Carolina's water
will be safer than it has been in decades.
The Southeast has a disproportionate number of unlined coal-ash
storage pits in proximity to rivers and lakes in part because of
its historic reliance on coal for power, Mr. Holleman said. But he
said he expects the settlement to have national implications.
"No utility can now say it's acceptable to cap this material and
leave it in an unlined pit," Mr. Holleman said.
Michael S. Regan, secretary of the state's Department of
Environmental Quality, said the agreement ensures public health and
protects natural resources. "We are holding Duke accountable and
will continue to hold them accountable for their actions," Mr.
Regan said.
Coal ash became a flashpoint in the state in February 2014, when
a metal pipe running underneath an aging waste-storage pit poured
tons of slurry into the Dan River in the central part of the state.
In 2018, heavy rains from Hurricane Florence washed out a small
portion of a coal-ash landfill near Wilmington, allowing some
material to spill into a nearby lake.
Duke has long said it was acting responsibly by gradually
phasing out coal-fired plants and ensuring previously generated
material was safely stored at more than two dozen sites across the
state. Some of the storage basins were lined but many weren't.
Environmentalists have said the material posed significant
health risks, as it could leach into groundwater or flow from
faulty basins into nearby bodies of water.
Last April, the state Department of Environmental Quality
ordered that Duke had to completely remove coal ash from all
storage basins in North Carolina, rather than cover some ponds and
leave the ash in place as the company proposed.
Duke balked, saying the order was overly restrictive and
costly.
In recent months, Duke, state regulators and a half-dozen
environmental groups worked out a settlement agreement, which was
signed Dec. 31.
The agreement extends the life of some coal-ash recycling
facilities, allows a few old, covered landfills below newer
uncovered ones to remain intact and expedites the permitting
process, according to a Duke spokeswoman.
Duke said the compromise costs about $1.5 billion less than what
the state had originally proposed, with the current estimate being
$8 billion to $9 billion to close all ash basins in the
Carolinas.
The company will gradually be removing coal ash over the years,
with the goal of closing all basins by the year 2034, according to
the Duke spokeswoman.
"Five years from now, a heckuva lot of ash will be gone," said
Mr. Holleman, the environmental lawyer. "Every year that goes by,
the level of pollution and the risk of catastrophe is being
reduced."
Duke shares fell 1% to $90.28 in afternoon trading Thursday.
Write to Valerie Bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 02, 2020 14:57 ET (19:57 GMT)
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