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hatrack

(59,439 posts)
Sun Mar 23, 2014, 11:55 AM Mar 2014

NC Regulators Formally Ask Judge To Pull $99,000 Ash Waste Settlement W. Duke Energy

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina regulators say they have asked a judge to withdraw a proposed settlement that would have allowed Duke Energy to resolve environmental violations by paying a $99,000 fine with no requirement that the $50 billion company clean up its pollution.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources said in a statement Friday that it would scuttle the proposed consent order to settle violations for groundwater contamination leeching from coal ash dumps near Charlotte and Asheville.

The decision comes after a Feb. 2 spill at a Duke coal ash dump in Eden coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge.

EDIT

http://www.wltx.com/story/news/2014/03/21/duke-energy-coal-ash-pollution/6709507/

You know what would really be hilarious? If the judge said "no", and let the settlement stand.

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NC Regulators Formally Ask Judge To Pull $99,000 Ash Waste Settlement W. Duke Energy (Original Post) hatrack Mar 2014 OP
so what is the deal? Schema Thing Mar 2014 #1
My guess - they're trying to look like they're doing their jobs. . . hatrack Mar 2014 #2
They're trying to get THEMSELVES off the hook. rocktivity Mar 2014 #3

Schema Thing

(10,283 posts)
1. so what is the deal?
Sun Mar 23, 2014, 12:00 PM
Mar 2014


are they trying to let them off scott free; or are they trying to reject the settlement in order to get something of substance?

hatrack

(59,439 posts)
2. My guess - they're trying to look like they're doing their jobs. . .
Sun Mar 23, 2014, 12:12 PM
Mar 2014

Then the whole thing can go to court, and Duke will lawyer up, and ten years later there'll be a settlement once everybody has forgotten.

Worked for the Exxon Valdez spill, God knows.

rocktivity

(44,555 posts)
3. They're trying to get THEMSELVES off the hook.
Sun Mar 23, 2014, 12:15 PM
Mar 2014

As Rachel Maddow explains here, the state regulators stopped environmental groups from suing by coming up with the settlement -- with McCrory's blessing, of course (he used to work at Duke himself). Now that the fecal matter has made physical contact with the rotating air circulation device, they've decided to do their jobs and actually hold Duke accountable whether McCrory likes it or not!
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/coal-ash-mess-north-carolina


rocktivity

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