The new subpoena issued June 5 by federal prosecutors asked the commission for the rest of its ash pond reports for the Dan River plant alone, going back to the inspection program’s beginning.

That goes back more than 30 years to when the commission cranked up its ash pond program to fill a void left by state legislators.

The commission began the program after the General Assembly exempted the ponds from state dam-safety laws enforced by the DENR, leaving the commission to fill the gap with its own requirement for the reports produced every five years by an independent consultant.

The commission then would forward those reports to the DENR for informal review because the utility board lacked expertise in the construction or maintenance of ash pond dams.

The new subpoena requested the additional Dan River Steam Station reports by Tuesday.

On Monday, the commission notified federal prosecutors that it could not fully respond to the latest subpoena because it lacks one of those newly requested reports.

The commission cannot find the Dan River ash pond’s first inspection report from 1981 — apparently because Duke never submitted it to the commission back then as it was supposed to do.