Three environmental groups said Thursday that they have discovered
toxic coal ash leaks from a retired Duke Energy coal plant in North
Carolina, allegedly polluting the Yadkin River nine months after a
massive coal ash spill from a Duke plant fouled the nearby Dan River in
February.
The groups, which posted photos of the reported leaks,
said the alleged discharges have not been disclosed by Duke Energy or by
state enviromental regulators. The leaks stretch for at least a quarter
of a mile along the Yadkin River in central North Carolina, coating the
river’s banks with orange sludge, the groups said.
Coal
ash stored in 33 ponds at 14 Duke Energy plants in North Carolina has
been a volatile political issue since the Feb. 2 spill coated 70 miles
of the Dan River with toxic sludge from an ash storage pond at Duke’s
Dan River plant.
A Duke Energy spokesman said the utility
regularly surveys all its coal ash sites for seeps, including the Yadkin
river plant, and reports all findings to state environmental
regulators.
"Seeps occur at low flows and contain low levels of
constitutents, so the Yadkin River would be continue to be well
protected and would not be influenced by these type of flows,’’ said the
spokesman, Jeff Brooks.
A
spokesman for the state Department of Environmental and Natural
Resources said the agency will visit the Yadkin River site to test water
quality "to determine if there are any exceedances of water quality
standards."
The spokesman, Jamie Kritzer, said the agency would take "appropriate actions’’ based on the results.
READ MORE:http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nc-coal-ash20141204-story.html
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