“However, communication between the Perdue administration and Duke Energy discovered during the legal process makes it clear that the intent of the memo was to favor corrective action in lieu of fines”, the release from the Department of Environmental Quality stated.
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Despite the settlement, Duke and DEQ disagree on key aspects of what it represents. Progress began voluntary groundwater monitoring at the site in 2006 but DENR alleges that the monitoring was a ruse created to skirt regulatory oversight – by placing test wells too close or too far away from the coal ash pile to get meaningful data.
Duke Energy launched a court challenge to the department’s ability to issue fines for groundwater contamination, using a 2011 policy memo as the basis for its challenge.
Duke pleaded guilty in May to violating the federal Clean Water Act in connection with leaks at several coal ash ponds across North Carolina – but not the Sutton plant – and agreed to pay $102 million in fines and restitution.
“Our chief goal is to protect the environment and public health while requiring corrective action to restore groundwater quality”. In addition, the settlement reiterates the company’s June 2015 commitment to move forward with plans to remediate groundwater near the ash basins at Sutton.
The settlement still leaves open lawsuits the state filed against Duke over contamination at all 14 of its North Carolina power plants.
DEQ fined Duke Energy $25.1 million in March for groundwater contamination at its Sutton Plant.
DEQ, known as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources until legislators renamed it this month, has been criticized by environmental advocates for lax policing of Duke. But relations between McCrory’s administration and Duke, the nation’s largest electric utility company, soured after a February 2014 environmental accident in which a Duke-owned coal ash pit failed, releasing 39,000 tons of toxic ash into the Dan River. “Ultimately, closing ash basins in ways that protect people and the environment will address groundwater concerns”, the statement said.
Contaminated groundwater has been been found near ash ponds at all 14 of Duke’s coal plants in the state.
Announced plans to retire the coal-fired Asheville Plant (Asheville, N.C.) in four to five years and modernize our generation and transmission system in Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina – significantly reducing environmental impacts, improving system reliability and minimizing long-term costs to customers.
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Duke Energy announced plans for their future.
