Work plans to assess groundwater contamination at Duke Energy’s 14 coal-fired facilities, including the Sutton Plant near Wilmington, were deemed insufficient by the N.C. Division of Water Resources on Nov. 5 and returned for revisions after more than one month of review.
Duke was charged with addressing the source, extent and flow of contamination at each site, including any imminent threats to public health and safety, plus plans for mitigation in plans submitted Sept. 26. All 14 work plans must be resubmitted to address concerns within 30 days. Duke spokesperson Jeff Brooks said the utility is already working to improve the plans.
“We share the agency’s interest in conducting detailed groundwater assessments. We want to base those on good science and engineering, and we’ll incorporate the state’s feedback to arrive at plans that meet their expectation,” Brooks said.
Problems to address in its plans for all facilities include better modeling and additional fieldwork to understand the flow of groundwater, and type and extent of contamination. Complaints specifically aimed at the Sutton Plant included absence of a plan to sample surface water or sediment from Sutton Lake or the Cape Fear River near outfalls and the need for more monitoring wells.
The Sutton work plan was prepared by SynTerra, a South Carolina-based engineering and science consulting firm.
Duke is also working to compile excavation plans for Sutton and three other sites deemed high-priority in the Coal Ash Management Act of 2014, due to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources by Nov. 15. Brooks suggested moving the ash, which contains heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead and selenium, away from water sources and into dry, lined storage will remedy groundwater contamination concerns.
“We remain focused on closing ash basins, and we believe that will ultimately address groundwater issues,” Brooks said.
Duke has 30 days to resubmit the groundwater assessment plans. Once the plans gain a stamp of approval, Duke has 10 days to begin implementing the plans and 180 days to submit a final report.
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