Duke Energy Ordered to Clean Up its Coal Ash Ponds

From Ring of Fire:

On Thursday, Duke Energy was ordered to take immediate action to stop groundwater contamination from its 14 North Carolina facilities. State Judge Paul Ridgeway directed Duke to create a plan to clean up its leaking coal ash ponds and the areas they have contaminated.

All of Duke’s coal-fired power plants in North Carolina operate unlined, aging coal ash ponds, one of which is responsible for the massive coal ash spill last month in the Dan River. Thursday’s decision reverses a 2012 North Carolina Environmental Management Commission ruling that Duke should not be required to take urgent action to address coal ash pollution.

“The ruling leaves no doubt, Duke Energy is past due on its obligation to eliminate the sources of groundwater contamination, its unlined coal ash pits, and the State has both the authority and a duty to require action now,” D.J. Gerken, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in a press release.

You can read the full article here at Ring of Fire.