Pollution Costs Duke Energy $102 Million
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric utility, owes $102 million in federal penalties for spilling coal into major waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act.
The company “pleaded guilty in federal court to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act for polluting four major rivers for several years with toxic coal ash from five power plants in North Carolina,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
About $68 million will go toward fines, and about $34 million will go toward environmental conservation projects in North Carolina and Virginia, The Hill reported.
The $50.5-billion company was also “placed on five years of probation for environmental crimes. All company compliance related to coal ash in five states will be overseen by a court-appointed monitor and reported to federal parole officers,” the Times reported.
Duke Energy spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River in February 2014. The spill left 70 miles of the river thick with gray sludge.
Four of the criminal charges were related to last year’s spill. “The remaining charges came from investigations federal officials conducted into Duke’s other coal ash storage operations,” The Hill reported.
The fines are not all Duke must pay as a result of the spill. “Under the plea agreement, both Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, must certify that they have reserved sufficient assets to meet legal obligations with respect to its coal ash impoundments within North Carolina, obligations estimated to be approximately $3.4 billion,” according to a statement from the Justice Department.
When the plea was announced, Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles for EPA’s office of enforcement and compliance assurance emphasized the threat Duke posed to drinking water.
“Over two hundred sixteen million Americans rely on surface water as their source of drinking water,” she said. “Duke Energy put that precious resource at risk in North Carolina as the result of their negligence. Companies that cut corners and contaminate waters on which communities depend, as Duke did here, will be held accountable.”
To read more about pollution, visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.