Tim Smith

tcsmith@greenvillenews.com

COLUMBIA – A state utility regulator says he is surprised and disappointed that Duke Energy has yet to remove any coal ash from any of its South Carolina sites even though coal ash is being removed from utility basins in North Carolina.

But a Duke spokesman told The Greenville News that none of the coal ash from its North Carolina sites has yet been removed and said relocating the material requires regulatory approval.

The comments of state Public Service Commissioner G. O'Neal Hamilton of Bennettsville came after an attorney for environmental groups told the commission Thursday that the coal ash lagoons at Duke's W.S. Lee Steam Station in Anderson County are unsafe and pollute.

Duke on Tuesday told the South Carolina Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, that it would remove coal ash from a 17-acre coal ash basin closed in the 1970s at Lee as well as a coal ash storage area there and would tell environmental regulators by the end of the year what it will do about the ash in two active basins on the site. Duke plans to close the basins after it converts its facility from coal to natural gas next year.

The basins are located next to the Saluda River and about seven miles upstream from drinking water inlets for two communities.

Duke has not yet decided when it will move the coal ash or where, officials said Tuesday. The utility maintains the dams and active basins at the Lee site are safe and is working on a remediation plan to fix the slope on one of the basins to make it meet industry standards, officials have said.

"I think it's somewhat of a surprise to this commission that no ash is being removed because this has been an ongoing situation that we've heard about and talked about," Hamilton told Holleman at one point. "We've seen reports of trucks moving in North Carolina and I assumed that was happening here and it's a little disappointing."

Ryan Mosier, a Duke spokesman, said no coal ash has yet been removed from any of its North Carolina sites.

He said a decision has been made to remove coal ash from four of the company's 14 North Carolina sites, including Asheville. He said the utility must go through a regulatory process to remove the ash.

"Excavation plans will need to be submitted and approved by state regulators before that work could begin," he said. "We're exploring options for where that ash could go at the sites where we've decided relocation will be needed. We are continuing our engineering work at the other 10 North Carolina sites to inform closure decisions that are protective in the long-term, just as we are in South Carolina at W.S. Lee and Robinson."

Environmental officials have asked that coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that contains trace amounts of arsenic and mercury, be removed from unlined basins such as those at Lee to prevent the possibility of contaminating ground water or drinking water inlets on nearby waterways.

Frank Holleman, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, told the commission that earthen dams at the Lee site leak and studies done for Duke over the years have repeatedly found the lagoons do not meet minimum industry standards for safety. He said the site also has contaminated the ground water with heavy metals.

Holleman said state environmental inspectors have listed 13 items in a notice of violation, including damage from burrowing animals, vegetation and eroded areas on the dams as well as serious safety defects spotted previously that had not been remedied.

Holleman said South Carolina's two other major utilities, which his organization sued over coal ash, are removing tons of the material from basins into lined landfills or using it to make cement. He said SCE&G has moved half a million tons from its Wateree site and Santee Cooper has begun its removal of coal ash at two sites.

He said the utilities are moving more coal ash than Duke has at the Lee site. Duke officials have said the Lee site contains about 1.7 million tons of coal ash.

Holleman said his organization repeatedly warned of a catastrophe in North Carolina before a Duke coal ash basin there spilled tons of coal ash into the Dan River in February. That spill was caused by the collapse of a pipe underneath a lagoon.

"This is a situation for action and action now," he said. "Every day that passes, South Carolina communities are at risk for a Dan River disaster on the Saluda River."

Asked by another PSC commissioner if the threat from the Lee basins was "imminent," Holleman said he could not predict any failure of the basins or dams. He said engineers have found the dams do not meet industry standards for safety and several streams run through the site on the way to the Saluda River.

"They haven't met these standards for years and they haven't failed yet, but that doesn't give me a lot of reassurance," he said. "We do need to have a sense of urgency. The other utilities feel a sense of urgency in South Carolina."

Holleman said his organization, which sued Duke in North Carolina, does not want to bring a lawsuit over the Lee situation but is prepared to "if that's the only way to get it resolved."

Duke is evaluating a variety of disposal options for ash at the Lee site, its officials have said, including the feasibility for permitting a landfill on plant property or relocating ash to an off-site landfill or structural fill. Officials said any option would include a double bottom liner, leachate collection, synthetic capping system and groundwater monitoring.