Duke Energy officials want to assure the public its proposed storage plan for coal ash now sitting in leaking ponds at the dormant Sutton Steam Plant is solid. Monday, May 18, residents saw exactly what the company has in mind and asked questions during a Q-and-A drop-in session.
Among those who dropped in early on the event was Earla Pope, a Wrightsboro resident who said she follows water-quality issues because she drinks from a well. She has paid close attention to the coal-ash problem.
“I wanted to see what Duke had to say, and I see they’re hot on it,” Pope said.
To satisfy a state mandate, Duke proposes to move most of its coal ash from storage ponds that are leaking into groundwater and the Cape Fear River into securely lined landfills farther from the river, but still on the Sutton property.
Duke officials say the two landfills will be lined with multiple layers of synthetic and natural materials to prevent leakage into the groundwater and/or the Cape Fear River. A watertight seal will cover the stored ash. Monitoring wells will be installed and checked for any sign of leakage.
Pope said she’s skeptical when she hears claims the new landfills will be leakproof.
“We live in a vulnerable coastal area,” she said. But after seeing what Duke has planned, she said she believes this will be an improvement over the current situation.
“I feel as though they are making an effort to do what they can,” she said.
People trickled in and out of the Coast Line Conference and Event Center. Some other early birds included New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet, Assistant Manager Tim Burgess and other staff members.
County Commissioner Rob Zapple also dropped by to get a better look at the plans for the landfills. Like Pope, he has long been skeptical about the impermeability of liners but he had a good impression of Duke’s plans.
“I’m impressed,” he said.
Burgess said the county staff was there mostly to learn more, given this problem occurred in New Hanover County.
The Sutton site is among the four highest-priority sites identified in a 2014 state law that will require closure of all coal-ash sites by 2029. Those sites must be cleaned up by 2019.
Duke Energy stores more than 151.5 million tons of coal ash at sites throughout North Carolina. The Sutton site holds 7.2 million tons.
The company plans to move 2 million tons of ash from the Sutton plant by rail to a closed clay mine in Chatham County. The remaining 5.2 million tons will be stored in the new Sutton landfill.
Environmental advocates from groups such as the Sierra Club and the N.C. Coastal Federation are pleased Duke Energy is finally addressing a problem they have been trying to draw attention to for years. Representatives of those groups have said it looks as though the company is moving in the right direction but they would wait for more details before deciding whether to offer their support outright.
Duke Energy pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this month to criminal charges involving leaks or spills at five coal-ash sites in North Carolina. The utility will pay $102 million in fines and restitution. Meanwhile, it is appealing a $25.1 million fine in connection with leaks at the Sutton site off U.S. 421 north of Wilmington.
In addition to the coal-ash remediation, Duke Energy is paying a substantial share of the cost of running water lines to residents of Flemington, a tiny residential community tucked into the U.S. 421 industrial corridor. That action came after tests showed coal-ash residue was leaking into groundwater that would eventually supply residential wells in that community.
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