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Coal ash is the waste that remains when coal is burned. It is usually collected in a dump, known as a pond. North Carolina has more than 30 such sites in 14 different locations across the state. A pipe running under one of the ponds run by Duke Energy in Eden NC ruptured in February of 2014. The coal ash spilled, largely affecting the Dan River which flows into Virginia. The spill is the third largest of its kind in U.S. history.Many see potential complications because North Carolina's governor, Pat McCrory, worked for Duke Energy for 28 years.

What Does The NC Senate Want To Do About The State’s Toxic Coal Ash Ponds?

The cleanup for the 2008 Tennessee coal ash disaster. Image taken March 2012.
Appalachian Voices
/
via Creative Commons/Flickr

The first piece of legislation leaders of the North Carolina Senate introduced in this summer’s legislative session looks at Duke Energy’s 33 coal ash ponds across the state.

That means that on Wednesday, their first day in session this year, the senate’s Republican leadership sent a clear signal that it’s a priority for them to resolve the state’s issue of toxic coal ash dumps. What they didn't send was a clear picture of how they want to resolve it.

The ponds, which for decades Duke Energy has used to dispose of ash waste from coal-burning energy plants, became an issue in February, when roughly 39,000 tons of ash drained from a pond near the Virginia-North Carolina line into the Dan River.

In April, Gov. Pat McCrory, who worked for Duke Energy for 28 years before his first bid for governor in 2007, said he wanted to pass a law that required Duke to remove the coal ash within 90 days from four of its ponds -- Riverbend west of Charlotte, Sutton in Wilmington, Asheville and the Dan River plant that spilled ash.

Some Democratic lawmakers, who are in the minority in the state Senate and House of Representatives, and observers, including the Southern Environmental Law Center and NC WARN, criticized the governor’s proposal for three reasons: the proposal resembled one the company had already made, the governor has historical ties with the company, and environmental advocates want Duke to remove all of the coal ash from all of its ponds and lock it in dry locations far from any waterways. (Duke says it could take up to $10 billion and 30 years to remove the ash from all ponds.)

The issue especially got the attention of the senate’s most influential leader, President Pro-Tem Phil Berger of Eden, because the Danville River spill was in the district he represents. On Wednesday, he and Senate Appropriations Chair Tom Apodaca, of Henderson, submitted McCrory’s proposal as their coal ash bill.

The bill, No. 729, sets aside $1.4 million for 19 staff positions at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to oversee coal ash clean up. But how much further do the senators want to require from Duke? Neither senator specified on Wednesday. In an interview, Apodaca said: “This is a good place to start.”

Jorge Valencia has been with North Carolina Public Radio since 2012. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Jorge studied journalism at the University of Maryland and reported for four years for the Roanoke Times in Virginia before joining the station. His reporting has also been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and the Baltimore Sun.
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