David Zucchino writes: Duke Energy may have been hauled into federal court and smacked with a $102-million penalty for polluting North Carolina rivers with potentially toxic coal ash, but that didn’t do much for the tainted well water at Barbara Morales’ house.
Morales is one of at least 123 North Carolina residents who have received letters from state health and environmental officials warning them that their well water is contaminated and unsafe for drinking or cooking.
Duke pleaded guilty Thursday to nine misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, but environmentalists say the conviction does not require the utility to clean up coal ash ponds that still threaten waterways, wetlands and groundwater.
Duke would consider extending municipal water lines to affected residents if testing shows neighbors’ wells have been influenced by plant operations..
The state is testing wells for about 30 substances and heavy metals associated with coal ash, including arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium. Some of the substances can cause cancer or serious health complications at certain levels of exposure.
Duke Energy had revenue of $23.9 billion and profit of $1.9 billion last year.
The Dan River spill also prompted North Carolina legislators to pass a law that requires Duke to close four of its most vulnerable coal ash ponds by 2019 and the rest by 2029. The ash must be stored in dry, lined pits that are regularly monitored. The law also requires the testing of wells near coal ash ponds.
But in addition to the potential coal ash threat to wells, Duke has reported nearly 200 seeps of coal ash in the state. Environmentalists said the plea deal does not require the company to stop the seeps, which release 3 million gallons of coal ash water a day.
Over a nine-day period, said Suttles, the environmental lawyer, the amount released by the 200 seeps would equal the amount of coal ash released during the Dan River spill. Pete Harrison, an attorney with Waterkeeper Alliance, a national environmental group, said Duke “is trying to legalize those leaks.”
A 62-page plea agreement, known as a joint factual statement, said seeps are common in the earthen dams used to contain Duke’s coal ash. The seeps contain “dissolved chemical constituents” and “may transport pollutants,” the federal court document said.
