Duke Energy: Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Head, SC - Coal Waste Ponds In YOUR State Are Different
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Duke Energy officials assured South Carolina regulators that the utility's two coal ash ponds in the state are safe in part because they are designed differently from a pond in North Carolina that dumped millions of gallons of contaminated water into a river.
But an environmental lawyer told the Public Service Commission on Monday that there are plenty of other ways the primitive structures can fail and send millions of gallons of ash-polluted water into nearby streams and rivers or allow contamination to seep into groundwater.
Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Frank Holleman urged Duke Energy to join South Carolina's other two utilities which have agreed to close the ponds and move the ash to safer storage in the next decade.
Regulators can review Duke Energy's electric rates and operations in South Carolina, but there doesn't appear to be much they could do about the utility's plans for its coal ash ponds. Duke asked for the hearing so it could keep the commission informed. The law center asked for a chance to respond to give its version.
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http://www.ctpost.com/business/energy/article/Duke-Energy-SC-coal-ash-ponds-different-from-NC-5345269.php
