Brace Yourselves! NC Government Preparing To FINE Duke Energy Over Massive Coal Ash Spill

[hatrack]

Bet it's really gonna sting - you just wait!

RALEIGH – North Carolina environmental officials moved Tuesday to fine Duke Energy over pollution that has been seeping into the groundwater for years from a pair of coal ash dumps at a retired power plant outside Wilmington.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a notice of violation to Duke over the ongoing contamination at the L.V. Sutton Electric Plant in New Hanover County. The site includes a pair of unlined ash dumps estimated to hold 2.6 million tons of ash.

The state says monitoring wells near Duke’s dumps at Sutton showed readings exceeding state groundwater standards for boron, thallium, selenium, iron, manganese and other chemicals. Thallium is highly toxic.

The state environmental agency did not immediately respond to requests for details about the levels of chemicals detected or the dates the samples were collected. The notice of violation is the first regulatory step toward fining the utility for violating of the state’s groundwater contamination laws.

EDIT

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/08/26/nc-moves-fine-duke-coal-ash-pollution/14640653/

[intaglio]

1. Just hope it is more than the 99,000 and no clean up costs

Which NC was proposing back in February.