Duke Energy Must Provide Clean Water to All Residents Affected by Coal Ash Contamination
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
NEW YORK, NY — April 22, 2015 — Letters recently mailed to residents by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reveal that there are dangerous levels of contaminants in wells of families living near Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds. For more than a year, Duke Energy has repeatedly denied even the possibility of drinking water contamination from its leaking coal ash ponds. However, these letters reveal that Duke Energy has known at least since last October that toxic heavy metals associated with coal ash are showing up in the drinking water wells of homes near coal ash dumps.
More than 100 households near coal ash ponds received letters warning them not to drink their well water, based on levels of vanadium, hexavalent chromium, cobalt, and iron that exceed health standards. For some of the well testing, DENR allowed Duke Energy to use laboratory methods not capable of determining whether health levels were exceeded for certain contaminants.
For years, Duke Energy has been the number one generator of vanadium in North Carolina, and dumping millions of pounds of the toxic metal into its coal ash ponds throughout the state. Following is a statement by Pete Harrison, staff attorney, Waterkeeper Alliance:
“Even though it is well-documented that the ponds containing these heavy metals are all leaking, Duke continues to deny that there is even a possibility of the coal ash causing the drinking water contamination. Yet, Duke Energy quietly began providing drinking water to one family living near the Buck Steam Station last November. Despite other families with wells much closer to the Buck Steam Station coal ash ponds with high levels of lead, chromium, and vanadium, Duke Energy isn’t providing them with clean water.”
Last year, water samples by Waterkeeper Alliance, DENR and Duke Energy documented levels of hexavalent chromium—the potent carcinogen made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich—that exceed North Carolina’s health screening levels at more than 10 wells around the coal ash ponds at Buck Steam Station. However, none of those well owners received letters from DENR advising them not to drink their water.
While the families living near coal ash ponds drink contaminated water, Governor McCrory’s administration has been complicit in sweeping this critical information under the rug. Similarly, DENR is refusing to take control of the situation and ensure that all affected residents have clean, safe water to drink.
The State of North Carolina needs to act quickly to protect the health of families living near coal ash ponds, and should order Duke Energy to provide drinking water to all families in the half mile perimeter around the Buck Steam Station coal ash ponds. They should further act to immediately stop Duke Energy from continuing its discriminatory practice of providing safe drinking water to certain people and not others, and instead ensure that all families are protected.”
Contacts:
Tina Posterli, [email protected], 516-526-9371