Residents fight coal ash dump

Part of Duke Energy’s plan for cleaning up its coal ash basins includes relocating millions of tons of ash to Chatham and Lee counties.

Duke Energy awaits approval from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources but plans to start excavating basins in August or September, Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks said.

“The community, of course, is extremely upset,” said Diana Hales, a member of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners.

EnvironmentaLEE, Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash Dump and Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League are taking action against Duke Energy by asking for a hearing with the administrative office of the NCDENR.

“Within DENR there’s an administrative office that has to make decisions, and we will protest against the permits,” said Judy Hogan, a member of Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash Dump.

“There are wetlands there with animals, flowers, fish and plants, and so they have to have permission to destroy those wetlands,” Hogan said. “They don’t have that permission yet. They can’t bring coal ash until they have those permits.”

N.C. Warn executive director Jim Warren said he is concerned about the cleanup process of existing sites.

“You can’t just dig up coal ash and put it on trucks and trains and take it away and call the site clean,” Warren said.

“Because we have contamination in the soil and in the water beneath those sites and decontaminating the soil and the water is a lengthy and expensive process, but it’s not clear that Duke even intends to do that.”

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners initially opposed Duke Energy’s plan, expressing environmental and health concerns, but were not able to stop the process because the property where the ash will be stored is privately owned by Green Meadow — a subsidiary of Charah, the company in charge of transporting the ash.

Hales said Chatham County reached an agreement with Duke Energy in June that allows 12 million tons of ash from three different locations to be transported to the Brickhaven Mine in Chatham County. Half of the ash comes from the nearby Cape Fear site in Moncure.

Duke Energy must pay the county $1.50 per ton for a total of $18 million. The county reserves the right to sue both Green Meadow and Charah if the agreement is not upheld.

Hales said the money will be used for various purposes, including monitoring the air quality around the Brickhaven site.

Hogan said she is not confident the coal will be transported or stored safely and worries the ash will contaminate both the air and the soil. She said she wishes the board had taken a stronger stance against the relocation.

“(The board) didn’t believe it could be stopped,” Hogan said. “They’ve tried to protect us after it happened; we wanted to stop it before it happened.”

Brooks said that Duke Energy is taking measures to safely transport the material.

“We’re very committed to responsibly managing coal ash with an emphasis on environmental safety,” he said.

Warren said the state needs to develop a stronger process to deal with the ash’s pollution rather than allowing contamination to be spread to new communities.

“We need a democratic transparent discussion about what to do to handle this statewide tragedy.”

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