By McCall Reeder
Intern
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) affirmed its commitment to closing coal ash plants, beginning with high-risk facilities such as the Sutton Plant located northwest of Wilmington, but the timetable isn’t swift enough for some local residents who spoke during a public hearing at Cape Fear Community College on Tuesday, March 1.
The meeting was conducted to receive public comments on the draft proposed coal ash risk classification for the Sutton Power Station. The Sutton Plant has received a high-risk classification, meaning a plan to close it is due by the end of this year and the actual closing will occur by Dec. 31, 2019.
Wilmington resident Priss Endo said that’s not soon enough.
“We have a hazardous situation,” Endo said.
Endo expressed concern about the ongoing threat of contamination, like what occurred with the drinking water in the Flemington community of Wilmington, and said the DEQ shouldn’t be taking any more risks by closing and cleaning up sites so slowly. Even with cleanup, contamination still remains at Sutton Lake, she concluded.
“We have a responsibility,” Endo said.
Ed Mussler, the branch supervisor for the Division of Waste Management in Raleigh, conducted the meeting.
“We’re here to listen,” he said.
Mussler pointed out that all 14 coal ash impoundments in the state will be closed, though the swiftness of these closures varies on the proposed draft classifications. Four plants have received a high-risk classification, and are scheduled to close by the end of 2019. Intermediate-risk plants are set to close by Dec. 31, 2024, and low-risk plants are due to close by Dec. 31, 2029.
The dates for shutting down and cleaning up the facilities are where problems lie, according to the speakers at the hearing.
Local resident James Hammond proposed that independent people should be testing the ponds and rivers affected by groundwater contamination “before it goes too far,” he said.
“State agencies that were supposed to do their job, didn’t do it,” he continued.
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette echoed the calls for quicker and more efficient cleanup. He also emphasized the importance of resident groups who speak up about such issues.
“Clearly cleanup is the right thing to do,” Burdette said. “What’s also clear is without resident groups, the cleanup wouldn’t be happening.”
Burdette grew up fishing at Sutton Lake, where fish have been heavily poisoned and deformed by contamination.
All public comments will be considered by the DEQ. They can be made by emailing [email protected] or mailing N.C. Division of Waste Management, Solid Waste Section, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, Attn: Ed Mussler, 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1611. Further comments about the Sutton plant will be accepted until April 18, 2016.
