Ooh, The Gloves Are Off Now! NC DENR Rejects Duke Long-Term Coal Ash Plan

Next up - a Sternly Worded Letter!!! Following that, months of waiting for people to forget . . . then - Profit!!

An advocacy group on Thursday stepped up its efforts to portray the state’s environmental regulators as too close to Duke Energy. At the same time, a public rift between the agency and the utility widened.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources rejected Duke’s long-term plan for cleaning up its 33 ash ponds at 14 plants. The agency had given the company until Saturday to present a plan to remove and store coal ash in the wake of the Feb. 2 massive spill of the material into the Dan River.

Instead, Duke submitted a four-page letter lacking in details – only one page addressed its “comprehensive coal ash plan” – which drew a blunt rebuke from DENR Secretary John Skvarla, who called the report “inadequate.” Also on Thursday, Duke asked a Wake County Superior Court judge to delay for 30 days an order that could force the company to immediately clean up all of its ponds. Duke is considering whether to appeal.

DENR and Gov. Pat McCrory, who worked for Duke Energy for 29 years, have staked out increasingly strident stances against the utility in the wake of the spill. But environmentalists continue to argue that the agency is too cozy with the utility. A federal criminal investigation is looking into that relationship.

EDIT

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/13/3698726/emails-show-duke-denr-worked-closely.html