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Advisen Front Page News - Friday, January 3, 2020

   

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Duke Energy Agrees to Coal-Ash Cleanup Settlement
Duke Energy Agrees to Coal-Ash Cleanup Settlement
Publication Date 01/02/2020
Source: Dow Jones News Service
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

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