Opinion: Duke Energy must take swift steps to clean up pollution

T here are many ways to deal with an environmental disaster. One is to claim that things are under control, despite continuing pollution. Another is to claim that what you have spilled is not dangerous and that only fear-mongerers want you to believe otherwise. Finally, you can wield direct influence over the government tasked with regulating you.

Duke Energy has found all three to be quite helpful in the wake of its February coal ash spill in the Dan River near Eden.

Five days after the spill, the Environmental Protection Agency noted that Duke had not stopped coal ash from contaminating the river.

In a “fact report,” the energy company cherry-picked statistics about coal ash’s toxicity, promulgating the idea that coal ash isn’t really dangerous.

They glossed over the 70 cases between 1948 and 2008 in which the EPA found coal ash to be poisonous in water, which include drinking sources.

A lenient state enforcement framework included a governor who held investments in Duke Energy at the time of the spill.

Duke’s plan to dispose of the remaining coal ash has two major flaws: its timeline and its method.

Of the 32 coal ash basins Duke operates, the EPA has given 10 of them either a significant or high hazard potential rating. High risk coal ash basins must be closed by the end of 2019.

Even more ridiculous is the amount of time Duke has been given to clean up “low risk impoundments.” Its deadline is 2029. The following are projects completed in less than the 15 years allotted to clean Duke’s coal ash ponds: the Golden Gate Bridge, the Manhattan Project and the Apollo Program.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Duke has already found some solutions for what to do with the ash. Some of it will be used to reclaim clay mines and become an ingredient in cement. Some of the low-risk areas might not be cleaned up at all but instead merely drained and capped.

The solution that needs to be taken off the table is burying the ash near residences. According the The Fayetteville Observer, a plan to bury coal ash in clay pits was opposed strongly by residents of Lee County. Some residents live as close as 800 yards from the clay pits.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has the authority to approve to this plan. It shouldn’t until it establishes a standardized buffer that prevents ash from being dumped.

The state legislature should update existing legislation to demand stricter deadlines for the clean up of low-risk coal ash ponds. Now is an opportunity to show Duke and other polluters that North Carolina will not tolerate dangerous hesitation.