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CAP FEAR, NC – Heavy rains in Florence took away part of a landfill used to remove coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal to produce electricity.
A portion of the 20 foot high landfill was gone, exposing the underlying gray ash and an indeterminate amount of coal ash dumped into Sutton Lake, which flows into the Cape Fear River.
Duke Energy
Corp.
, owner of the L. V. Sutton Power Station coal dump near Wilmington, BC, said the teams were on site to assess the situation. Paige Sheehan, a spokeswoman for the company, said she thought a ditch around the perimeter of the dump contained some of the washed coal ash, but some escaped into the lake.
"We think it's very unlikely that it will reach the river," Sheehan said. "We are convinced that public health and the environment remain very well protected."
According to the company's initial estimates, 2,000 cubic yards of coal ash were removed from the landfill, she added. Two thousand cubic meters represent about two-thirds of an Olympic-size pool.
Coal ash is a by-product of coal-fired power plants, which cleans potential air pollutants from their emissions. These ashes may contain arsenic, selenium, lead and mercury.
On Sunday afternoon, bulldozers carrying sand could be seen repairing two breaches in the containment zone. A thick gray layer was still flowing.
The Sutton coal plant is no longer active and Duke transports the coal ash from a lagoon to a landfill site. This operation is in progress.
The Environmental Protection Agency is working with the State of North Carolina and Duke to monitor the storage of coal ash in the region, said Reggie Cheatham, director of the agency's Emergency Management Office. during a press briefing on Sunday.
While Florence continues to ravage the United States, here's what you need to know about the dangerous storm on the East Coast. Photo: Associated Press
"We have no other reported violations," he said. "This particular breach is on the site and is still some distance from the Cape Fear River."
Kemp Burdette, who oversees Cape Fear River for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, left his flood house early Sunday to investigate erosion and leaks in the coal warehouse. He expressed concern that the spill could end up in the Cape Fear River.
Duke has been working for several years to move the ashes of the ponds in coated dumps destined to permanently store the material. The active cell of the dump was covered with earth before Hurricane Florence. But there was too much rain: the facility has recorded about 30 inches of rain since Friday.
According to the Southeast Coal Ash, a special group of environmental organizations, there are 26 active coal production sites in the Carolinas. A 2008 coal spill in Kingston, Tennessee, highlighted the threat to the environment of these facilities, and energy companies like Duke have been subject to federal and legal pressure to clean the watersheds. coal.
Duke said that he began emptying his coal ash ponds at the Sutton plant about three years ago. The ash was transferred to a nearby dump, where it was buried and covered.
Mr. Burdette said the problems at the facility are important because the new coal ash storage system is being used in part as a result of a lawsuit filed by environmentalists, including his organization.
"This could be the first significant failure," he said.
-Ben Kesling contributed to this article.
Write to Valerie Bauerlein at [email protected] and Russell Gold at [email protected]
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