Breaking from NC – Officials knew Cape Fear Plant Coal Ash Pond was Failing - Waterkeeper

Breaking from NC – Officials knew Cape Fear Plant Coal Ash Pond was Failing

By: Waterkeeper Alliance

Climate And Safe Energy
coal ash
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette samples toxic coal ash seepage

March 26, 2014

Photos show North Carolina Regulators Missed Giant Crack in Dam after Duke Energy Dumped Toxic Coal Ash at Cape Fear Plant

Second look at aerial photos shows Duke knew
pond was failing as state regulators ignored dangerous crack

CONTACT:
Pete Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, 828-582-0422, [email protected]
Kemp Burdette, Cape Fear Riverkeeper, 910-264-8036, [email protected]

PHOTOS: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjVsYAiv

MONCURE, NC – Aerial surveillance photos taken by Waterkeeper Alliance on March 10 reveal that Duke Energy and state regulators failed to acknowledge a gaping crack in the crest of a coal ash impoundment at the Cape Fear Plant. Officials with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Conservation (DENR) claim they were not aware of the crack until Duke Energy reported it on March 20, even though agency staff had inspected the cracked dam twice since the aerial photos were taken.

On March 11, the day after Waterkeeper Alliance captured aerial photos of Duke Energy workers using large portable pumps to empty toxic coal ash wastewater into a tributary of the Cape Fear River from two impoundments, a DENR spokesperson maintained that its staff visited the Cape Fear Plant as part of a statewide investigation of all of Duke’s facilities. According to DENR, inspectors discovered a large portable water pump sitting idle next to the outfall of one of the ash ponds. Now, the Waterkeeper photos reveal that the day before the March 11 inspection, a giant crack had already formed less than three feet away from one of the pumps that officials from DENR were investigating.

The photos show the crack was several inches wide when DENR inspectors were at the site. According to DENR’s own Dam Operation, Maintenance, and Inspection Manual: “The entire embankment must be closely inspected for cracks. Short, isolated cracks are not usually significant, but larger (wider than 1/4 inch), well-defined cracks indicate a serious problem.”
The revelation only adds to a cloud of suspicion that has formed around DENR’s handling of the extensive problems Waterkeeper exposed at the Cape Fear Plant. In a second press release issued last Thursday, DENR stated that “state officials discovered during a March 11 inspection that the company had been pumping wastewater from two of its coal ash ponds.” However newly uncovered records from a dam safety inspection conducted by DENR on February 21 reveal that the agency had known for weeks that Duke Energy was deliberately emptying toxic coal ash wastewater into a tributary of the Cape Fear River.

In the reports, a DENR inspector specifically notes that the “liquid level has been lowered to facilitate insp[ection] of riser joints,” and “potential repairs discussed.” The DENR inspector also notes that the “[d]iscussed minor leakage being investigated @ riser & potential need for repair permit.”

Waterkeeper Alliance Staff Attorney Peter Harrison said the reports show the agency deliberately misled the public and enabled Duke to continue illegally polluting for weeks or possibly months. “These inspection reports prove that DENR has been concealing critical information from the public to shelter its most powerful ‘customer.’ DENR knew Duke had lowered these ponds, knew repair permits were probably needed, and they might have even known one of the dams was literally splitting apart.”

DENR officials later cited Duke Energy for illegally discharging a total of 61-million gallons of highly contaminated coal ash wastewater—more than double the amount of wastewater spilled at Duke’s Dan River plant in February. According to regulators, the dumping occurred for more than 70 days since last fall, including the day after untreated coal ash spilled out of a broken pipe underneath the ash basin at its Dan River facility, fouling at least 70 miles of the scenic river.

“Only when Duke’s brazen dumping was exposed by the diligent efforts of ordinary citizens did DENR undertake its enforcement parody, leading up to last week’s dazzling array of contrived press releases, notices of violations, and stern comments from the governor,” said Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette. “Now the show is over and justice must be served,” he added.

In addition to misrepresenting when it became aware of Duke’s illegal pumping, and failing to identify obvious structural deficiencies in the Cape Fear dam, DENR also failed to disclose other potentially serious problems clearly visible in Waterkeeper Alliance’s aerial photos. One photo shows the crack in the dam, as well as a large bulge in the wall of the impoundment that threatens to topple the discharge pipe. On Tuesday, DENR also announced that Duke had repaired the crack, but that long-term corrections were still needed to stabilize the dam to prevent failure.

“The Cape Fear coal ash ponds are located less than 3 miles upstream of the Sanford Water Treatment Plant, a regional supplier of drinking water to the City of Sanford, the Town of Broadway, Lee County, and sections of Chatham County. The treatment capacity is twelve million gallons per day, averaging seven million gallons per day. “People are wondering what pollutants have already gotten into their drinking water from the 61 million gallons of coal ash wastewater illegally discharged by Duke Energy,” said Haw Riverkeeper Elaine Chiosso, based in Chatham County. “Now they are even more worried there could be a dam failure with a massive coal ash flow full of heavy metals into their water supply.” Other Cape Fear water treatment plants downstream would also be threatened, including Lillington, Harnett County and Fayetteville.

###

About WATERKEEPER® Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations and focusing citizen advocacy on the issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. Waterkeepers patrol more than 1.5 million square miles of rivers, streams and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Waterkeeper Alliance was founded in 1999 by veteran Waterkeepers and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Learn more at: www.waterkeeper.org or follow @Waterkeeper on Twitter and Facebook.

[symple_box color=”gray” text_align=”left” width=”100%” float=”none”]

For public comments, media are invited to call or email the following contacts:

[/symple_box]

The Public Needs ANSWERS and IMMEDIATE ACTION:

In light of these startling photos and the delay in informing the public about the crack in the Cape Fear dam by Duke Energy and DENR, Waterkeeper Alliance, Cape Fear Riverkeeper and Haw Riverkeeper call on Duke Energy and NC DENR to clarify answers to these questions for the public:

1. Why did Duke Energy fail to report the crack in the dam until at least 10 days after it was plainly visible by an aircraft flying hundreds of feet overhead? Did Duke Energy try to hide the crack from DENR and the public?

2. Why did DENR staff inspecting the dam on March 11 either fail to find this crack or fail to disclose it to the public?

3. Has Duke Energy inserted a camera in the discharge pipe to investigate the structural integrity and condition of this outlet that dumps directly into the Cape Fear watershed? What is the condition of the pipe?

4. What were the materials used to build the discharge pipe? The top appears to be made of metal. Coal ash is highly corrosive to metal and was a factor in the Dan River spill. How much of the Cape fear discharge pipe is made of metal?