Potential spill of coal ash at the Duke Energy plant in Wilmington

Hurricane Florence's historic rains eroded a landfill, likely leaving coal ash reaching Sutton Lake at Sutton's Wilmington power station, Duke Energy said on Saturday.

Sutton Lake is a cooling pond that was built to support the operations of the plant, the company said in a press release. The 1,100-acre lake near the banks of the Cape Fear River is a popular fishing destination.

Slope failure and erosion in part of the landfill resulted in a stormwater spill, resulting in the displacement of approximately 2,000 cubic yards of material, enough to fill approximately the two third of an Olympic size pool.

The majority of the displaced ashes were collected in a ditch and a transportation road that surrounds the landfill and are on plant property, the company said.

"The coal ash is not dangerous, and the company does not think this incident poses a risk to public health or the environment," the statement said. The company also conducts environmental sampling.

Site staff handle the situation and perform a complete repair as weather conditions improve. The ash ponds, which are being excavated, and the cooling pond continue to operate safely, the statement said.

The State Department of Environmental Quality is closely monitoring all the coal ash remnants that could be vulnerable during tropical storm Florence, a spokesman said Saturday.

"As soon as it is safe, DEQ will be on site at the Sutton Steam Plant to conduct a thorough inspection," said DEQ Communications Director Megan S. Thorpe. "Once the damage is assessed, DEQ will determine the best course of action and will ask the utility to report on the implementation of the solution to protect public health and the environment."

Duke Energy plans to close its seven coal-fired power plants in North Carolina over the next 30 years, according to documents filed this month with state regulators, reports the Charlotte Observer.

Coal ash has been a problem for Duke Energy since the 2014 spill at the Dan River power plant in Eden, near the border with Virginia. Since then, Duke seeks to close sites where he stores coal ash to comply with the state law passed after the spill.