Administrative Watch: EMC Approves Deal on Coal Ash Fines
The state Environmental Management Commission (EMC) has ordered Duke Energy to pay a relatively small fine and to speed up work to stop leaks from its coal ash ponds at three North Carolina coal plants.
The EMC’s action approved a consent order reached with the utility to address 21 unpermitted leaks to groundwater from its unlined ash ponds at the three plants. While an increase from the state’s original proposed $84,000 fine, the consent order’s $156,000 fine represents pocket change for the nation’s second largest power utility.
The order adopts a hybrid approach to the treatment of these leaks (referred to as “seeps”). Ones which are channeled to surface waters by some constructed feature (including pipes and channels connected to an ash pond dam) are treated as point source discharges, and required to get permits. So-called “natural” seeps into groundwater through the unlined boundaries of the ash storage ponds are not considered point sources, and are not eligible to be permitted. Instead, they’re addressed only in the consent order itself, which includes fines for each one already identified, as well as an overall plan intended (in theory) to stop such seeps.
The order begs the question of when or how the ash storage basins themselves are to be closed, instead referring that question to other separate laws and plans. As such, it is unlikely to prove satisfactory to advocates for accelerated closing of all the unlined coal ash pits, including the excavation and transfer of their remaining ash to new, lined facilities.
CIB’s analysis here of the terms of this order is preliminary and subject to more thorough review and comment drawing on additional expert review later.
