Emails Show Duke Energy, NC Govt Coordinated Efforts To Block Citizen Lawsuits Before Spill
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Internal emails between staff at North Carolina's environmental agency suggest state regulators were coordinating with Duke Energy before intervening in efforts by citizens groups trying to sue the company over groundwater pollution leeching (Ed. - sic) from its coal ash dumps.
The emails were provided Thursday to The Associated Press by the Southern Environmental Law Center, which had filed notice in January 2013 of its intent to sue the nation's largest electricity company under the Clean Water Act. Within days, the emails show a Duke lobbyist contacted the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to set up a meeting. The emails suggest the company and regulators were in frequent contact, with a lawyer for Duke even advising the state on legal strategy at one point.
At the time, lawyers for the environmental law center were worried that Duke and state regulators would work out a deal without any input from the citizens groups. They told the state that the groups couldn't legally be blocked from participating. But in an April 30, 2013 email, Duke lawyer Charles Case tried to find a case law that could be used by the state's lawyers to convince a judge otherwise.
The email with a copy of an old case attached was forwarded by Special Deputy Attorney General Kathy Cooper to Lacy Presnell, the top lawyer at the state environmental agency, on May 15. Cooper had been assigned to represent the state in the lawsuit. "Mr. Presnell asked during our meeting for an example of participation by a intervenor on a non-party basis," Case wrote, adding that he looked forward to speaking with the state officials in an upcoming meeting.
EDIT
http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Emails-show-close-ties-between-Duke-NC-regulators-5315536.php
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