Duke Energy announced plans to close coal ash basins at the Sutton Plant near Wilmington today, which involve recycling 2 million of the site’s 7.3 million tons of ash for use as structural fill.
The plans were submitted two days before the Nov. 15 deadline stipulated in the Coal Ash Management Act of 2015, which outlines a plan for the company to close more than 30 coal ash basins around the state following the spill of 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River earlier this year.
Duke Energy senior vice president of ash basin strategy John Elnitsky said in a Nov. 13 press release that the plans exceed requirements outlined by the state.
Ash from Sutton and three other facilities deemed high-priority in the Coal Ash Management Act will be recycled or reused when possible. Ash from the Sutton Plant will be transported via rail for use as structural fill in open-pit clay mines in Moncure and Sampson, N.C., creating 100 jobs in Chatham and Lee counties.
The ash will be contained in specially engineered synthetic liners, and the sites will be subject to groundwater monitoring.
Ash that is not recycled will be stored dry in lined landfills.
Duke plans to close the ash basins in phases. The plans submitted to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Nov. 13 detail the first phase of the company’s closure plans.
“We are prepared to proceed as soon as we have the necessary approvals from the state,” Elnitsky said in the press release.
After approvals and permits from DENR are granted, the work will take between 12 and 18 months to complete. Ash basins at the four sites must be closed by Aug. 1, 2019.
Elnitsky said the work to close the first round of high-priority ash basins will inform strategies implemented to close basins at Duke’s other 10 facilities.
“The initial work at these facilities will help us assess various approaches for the closure plans at our remaining 10 North Carolina facilities,” said Elnitsky.
The priority of basins at remaining facilities is to be determined by DENR and the newly created Coal Ash Management Commission.
More than 100 million tons of ash is stored in basins at Duke’s 14 facilities, approximately 30 percent of which will be moved during the first phase of excavation.
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