NC: Duke’s Chatham coal-ash pond dam cracked from unauthorized pumping

[G_j]

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/21/3721373/duke-cracked-dam-with-illegal.html#emlnl=Local_and_State

Duke’s Chatham coal-ash pond dam cracked from unauthorized pumping

BY CRAIG JARVIS
[e-mail] 21, 2014

RALEIGH — The earthen dam at one of the coal-ash ponds at the Cape Fear power plant in Chatham County was damaged when Duke Energy workers pumped out wastewater there in an unauthorized operation over the past several months, state regulators said Friday.

Duke Energy says the crack, which it told regulators about Thursday, began as a “small depression” two weeks ago on one of the five ponds at the closed plant. Workers monitoring the crack said it hadn’t gotten bigger, according to the company, until Thursday – when it suddenly grew to a 3- to 4-inch wide gap and was about 35 feet long.

No wastewater from the ash lagoon spilled through the crack, the company said. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said the structure, which was built in 1985, didn’t appear to be in imminent danger of failure, but it was monitoring repair plans.

Duke is allowed to discharge a certain amount of wastewater that has been tested for safety from the ponds into a tributary of the Cape Fear River, which supplies drinking water to several municipalities downstream. But DENR determined that the pumping operation exceeded reasonable maintenance methods, and sent 61 million gallons of wastewater into the river over several months. No water quality problems have been reported, but the company faces substantial fines.

So far, DENR has not issued a violation notice for the dam fissure. On Friday, the agency approved the company’s emergency fix to the growing crack at the plant in Moncure and will require a long-term repair be developed. Duke says it is taking those measures “out of an abundance of caution” but stresses the dam remains safe and structurally sound.


The Waterkeeper Alliance environmental group flew a plane over Duke Energy’s Cape Fear Plant ponds in Chatham County March 10 and spotted two pumps. Duke says routine maintenance was underway. RICK DOVE — WATERKEEPER ALLIANCE

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/21/3721373/duke-cracked-dam-with-illegal.html#emlnl=Local_and_State#storylink=cpy

[hatrack]

1. "So far, DENR has not issued a violation notice for the dam fissure."

Yeah, because you wouldn't want to hurt a Job Creator, now would you?

[marions ghost]

2. Toxic pools

not a natural color in NC.

[G_j]

3. Duke Energy Caught Dumping Toxic Wastewater into Cape Fear River Watershed

http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/duke-energy-caught-dumping-toxic-wastewater-into-cape-fear-river-watershed/

Duke Energy Caught Dumping Toxic Wastewater into Cape Fear River Watershed

March 17, 2014 2:38 pm

By Staff
The arrogant criminality of Duke Energy continues unabated in spite of federal investigations and continuing revelations of political corruption. The Waterkeeper Alliance has released aerial surveillance photos to media outlets across the state. These photos, taken from a fixed-wing aircraft last week, show Duke Energy employees pumping waste-water from two of Duke Energy’s toxic coal ash lagoons into a canal that drains into the Cape Fear River.


duke employees dumping toxins into drinking water

These continuing and knowing acts of pollution come less than two months after the Dan River disaster, where at least 30,000 tons of coal ash spilled from another of Duke Energy’s toxic coal ash lagoons. The dumping also came just days before a federal grand jury convenes in Raleigh to hear evidence in a criminal investigation of Duke Energy, the NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the handling of coal ash.

Duke Energy has arrogantly admitted that its workers were pumping coal ash wastewater out of a toxic wastewater pond and into a canal which drains into the Cape Fear River. The Cape Fear River is a source of public drinking water for residents in Fayetteville, Sanford, Dunn, Harnett County, Fort Bragg and Wilmington. A spokesman for Duke told the New York Times that the pumping was intended to lower the water level in the ponds, which contain a slurry of coal ash with toxic heavy metals, as part of a “routine maintenance” program, and was allowed under the site’s antipollution permit.

According to the New York Times, Duke claims it notified state regulators – a claim that was contradicted by officials with DENR. Duke Energy cannot lawfully discharge any pollutant to a waterway without a proper permit in place.

..more..