Coal news and updates

The Lee County Board of Commissioners went on record Monday opposing a plan by Duke Energy and Charah Inc. to dispose of coal ash at a clay mine in the county as a way to remediate the energy company’s problems elsewhere.

 

The board approved a resolution saying that the disposal plan would create environmental risk and cause economic hardship in the county.

 

The board instructed its clerk to send the resolution to local, state and federal representatives and to Gov. Pat McCrory.

 

“By hosting this type of facility in Lee County, the citizens and businesses who have invested in the community will suffer economic hardships due to the stigma of being the coal ash capital of North Carolina,” the resolution reads.

 

“The best way to dispose of coal ash is to leave the ash at its current site where the host counties have been paid millions of dollars in ad valorem taxes due to Duke and Progress Energy placing energy generating facilities in their county,” it said.

 

The resolution, by itself, has no power to stop Duke’s plan. But Therese Vick, a community organizer for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said, “It sends a strong message to the legislature and to the governor and to Duke Energy about the violation of this community’s rights.”

 

In August, state legislators set a deadline for Duke to close all its coal ash ponds in the state by 2029. A Coal Ash Management Commission will oversee the process.

 

The state acted after coal ash from a Duke Energy plant poured into the Dan River along the North Carolina-Virginia border in February. Stormwater pipes beneath a coal ash basin at Duke’s Dan River plant collapsed, raising questions about how aggressive the state had been in regulating storage of coal ash.

 

In November, Duke Energy announced plans to start shipping ash from two power plants to clay mines in Chatham and Lee counties. Charah Inc., the Louisville, Ky.-based company that will handle the project and own the ash, says the mines could hold 20 million tons of ash, beginning with material moved from plants near Charlotte and in Wilmington.

 

The companies have asked for permits from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to send 8 million tons to Lee County in the next eight years.

 

Lee County officials argue that the mine project amounts to a landfill and should be regulated according to the state’s rules for solid waste, including allowing the county to collect fees according to tonnage.

 

‘Structural fill’

 

But when the state legislature approved the law in October that would allow the mines to be filled with ash, it described the projects as “structural fill,” preparing land for future development. The law doesn’t mention fees for the host government.

 

Charah’s chief operating officer, Scott Sewell, has said host fees would not apply.

 

The company has said it expects to invest $10 million locally, create 100 jobs and leave the site suitable for future development.

 

 

Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/