North Carolina has a coal problem. Because the state gets two-thirds of its power from coal-fired plants, it is a major greenhouse gas polluter. Sequestration might reduce its contribution to climate change one day, but won't fix the second problem. These plants also generate millions of tons of coal ash waste each year that threaten public safety.
Coal ash poses two dangers to the public. First, structurally unsound storage impoundments can rupture, spilling toxic sludge into homes and rivers. The largest toxic waste spill in U.S. history resulted from the failure of a coal ash impoundment at the Kingston Fossil Plant on the Emory River in Tennessee in December of 2008. Second, like the gremlins in the 1984 horror movie, coal ash gets particularly nasty when wet. Water in prolonged contact with coal combustion waste will become contaminated with arsenic and other toxic heavy metals. For more information on the hazards of coal ash, see this previous diary.
So how has North Carolina responded to the coal ash problem?
The coal ash problem in North Carolina
The dangers posed by coal ash are significant in the state. North Carolina has 12 coal ash impoundments that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified as a high hazard risk for failure, the most of any state. High hazard risk means an impoundment will threaten human life if it ruptures. Many of the earthen dams holding back millions of gallons of coal sludge in North Carolina are in populated areas with homes and businesses that would be destroyed if they fail. Even without a structural failure, groundwater contamination from coal ash storage sites is already occurring in the state. A report released by a local environmental group in October of 2009 documented groundwater contamination at 13 coal ash storage ponds.
According to Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby’s review of the data, all thirteen of the tested coal ash ponds were found to be leaking toxic heavy metals and other pollutants into nearby groundwater, including but not limited to: arsenic, boron, cadmium, chloride, chromium, iron, lead, manganese, pH and sulfate. In all, the analysis found 681 instances where levels of pollutants were in excess, ranging from 1.1 to 380 times higher than North Carolina’s groundwater standard.
“The results of this data are very alarming, and we now know that some of these ponds have been leaking into the groundwater for years,” said Lisenby. “We intend to call for further oversight and clean up of coal ash pond waste to prevent additional heavy metals and other toxins from being released into our groundwater and rivers.”
Several factors have contributed to incompetence in managing coal ash in the state. North Carolina has an abysmal record in managing earthen dams. The number of earthen dams is high (>5200), many of the dams are old (>50 years, the typical mean time to failure), state funding of the inspection program is low with only 15 inspectors, and the state has not developed an Emergency Action Plan for most of the high hazard risk inventory. Dams holding back coal ash waste have been essentially unregulated as they have been exempted from even limited state inspection under the North Carolina Dam Safety Act of 1967. Utilities have been allowed to hire contractors every five years to certify the safety of impoundments. This lax regulation has been made possible by coal combustion waste not being classified as a hazardous waste by the EPA.
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Change is promised, small change delivered
Let's play a little game. See if you can spot the progressive in this state legislative sausage-making process.
When Beverly Perdue was sworn in as governor of North Carolina in January of 2009, a few weeks after the Kingston spill in Tennessee, she promised tighter regulations of coal ash storage sites. She also promised greater transparency in government after numerous influence-peddling scandals plagued her predecessor.
Representative Mary Price ("Pricey") Harrison (D-57), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural and Economic Resources, introduced House Bill 1354 ("Increase Public Safety for Coal Ash Disposal") on April 9, 2009 (revised April 28, 2009). This bill had four major provisions: (1) tightening the permitting requirements to prohibit coal ash storage in unlined impoundments and landfills, (2) impose fees that would fund state inspections, (3) require inspections by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with the power to mandate corrective action, and (4) remove the exemption of coal ash impoundments from the Dam Safety Act.
The bill ran into opposition from the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by David Hoyle (D-43). Hoyle introduced Senate bill 1004 ("Amend Certain Electricity Generation Laws") on May 13, 2009. This bill has three major provisions: (1) recognize the accomplishments of Progress Energy and Duke Energy in meeting the requirements of the state Clean Smokestacks Act, (2) allow Progress Energy and Duke Energy to pass on all costs associated with converting a coal-fired generation unit to natural gas and all costs associated with the purchase or construction of an alternative energy ("carbon offset") generation facility, and (3) remove the exemption of coal ash impoundments from the Dam Safety Act.
On July 14, 2009, Gov. Perdue issued a statement urging passage of the bill regulating coal ash storage.
Gov. Perdue today urged state lawmakers to pass legislation that would increase the safety oversight of coal ash ponds in North Carolina. The legislation would subject the dams that create coal ash ponds to direct inspection by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
This statement also made it seem like Perdue was endorsing the regulatory framework proposed by Pricey Harrison even though the bill coming up for a vote in the General Assembly was the framework proposed by David Hoyle.
The proposal will be sponsored by Rep. Pricey Harrison of Greensboro and will subject coal ash dams to the Dam Safety Act, which would more closely regulate the impoundments and would require a state inspection every two years.
The only provision the Harrison and Hoyle bills have in common was revoking the exemption of coal ash impoundments from the Dam Safety Act. This means that high hazard risk coal ash impoundments have to be inspected by the state every two years to evaluate structural integrity. The other more significant regulations of coal ash proposed by Harrison were not included in the final bill.
Perdue's statement won praise from journalists covering the coal ash story.
Citing her concern over the safety of ash dumps, Perdue last week endorsed legislation introduced by North Carolina state Reps. Pricey Harrison (D-Greensboro), Susan Fisher (D-Asheville) and Grier Martin (D-Raleigh) that would impose tougher state regulations on the facilities, subjecting them to direct inspection by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Inspections are currently the responsibility of the owning companies.
Sue Sturgis, Southern Studies, July 20, 2009
The bill based on the Hoyle framework was ratified by the General Assembly on July 23, 2009. With fanfare, Gov. Perdue signed the bill into law on July 31, 2009.
“Because of potential risk posed by the location of North Carolina’s coal ash ponds, we must provide greater oversight and more frequent inspections,” Perdue said in a statement. “This legislation will keep our citizens safer and our dams more secure.”
Raleigh News Observer
The passage of the bill also won praise from environmental organizations.
It's a good thing that some elected leaders appear to be heeding the lessons learned from the terrible tragedy in Tennessee. North Carolina legislators and Gov. Bev Perdue have passed a law that tightens state oversight on coal ash ponds. The dams on the ponds will be inspected every two years by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Of 44 dams deemed "high-hazard" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 12 were in North Carolina.
Natural Resource Defense Council, August 9, 2009
So Gov. Perdue gets positive press and praise from environmentalists for taking a tough stance on coal ash regulation. Meanwhile, days after signing the bill, prominent members of the Perdue administration were privately petitioning Lisa Jackson, director of the EPA, to oppose regulation of coal ash as a hazardous waste. Here are letters dated August 5, 2009, from Keith Crisco, Secretary of the Department of Commerce, and Robert Gruber, Director of the North Carolina Utilities Commission (with cc to Secretary of the Department of Enviroment and Natural Resources). It is difficult to imagine two members of Perdue's administration taking a strong stance on environmental regulations without the knowledge and consent of the governor. Several weeks later in a letter dated September 3, 2009, Eugene Conti, Secretary of the Department of Transportation, petitioned the Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina, Richard Burr, urging him to oppose EPA classification of coal ash as hazardous waste.
By the end of 2009, Republican members of Congress from North Carolina had publicly expressed their opposition to tougher EPA regulations including:
NORTH CAROLINA - Sen. Richard Burr-R; Reps. Howard Coble-R, Walter Jones-R, Patrick McHenry-R, Sue Myrick-R.
Sue Sturgis, Grist
There was little public awareness of the actions by the three members of the Perdue administration until a story appeared on March 11, 2010 in the Greensboro News Record. This story noted the source of the information.
But state officials are now weighing in on the side of continuing “beneficial uses.” Rep. Pricey Harrison passed on three letters from state officials to the EPA asking the agency to back off designating coal ash as a hazardous material. (For her part, Harrison would like to see coal ash regulated.)
Greensboro News Record
The day after this story appeared, Harrison tweeted the following:
Perdue administration officials weigh in against strong regs on toxic coal ash. Out of all in US, NC faces the biggest problems with it.
In case you have not guessed, Pricey Harrison is the progressive legislator fighting for tighter regulation of coal combustion waste. David Hoyle, a real estate developer and Chairman of the Board for Citizens Bank, has a long history of writing legislation gutting environmental regulations, particularly those that get in the way of real estate development in environmentally sensitive areas. In fact, the North Carolina Conservation Network gave Hoyle their prestigious Pollution Superstar award. Gov. Perdue deserves a forked-tongue award for publicly appearing to support environmental protection while her administration was privately advocating weak regulation.
In the opening and closing credits of the Andy Griffith Show (which was set in rural North Carolina), Andy and Opie are shown going to and coming from their favorite fishing spot. Without tougher regulation of coal ash waste, they would be wise not to eat the fish or drink well water if there is a coal-fired plant nearby.
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>>>TAKE ACTION<<<</p>
1. Support Pricey Harrison
Rep. Harrison is running for reelection to represent Greensboro and surrounding Guilford County in the North Carolina General Assembly. She is a strong supporter of environmental protection, civil rights, consumer protection, and public health. In addition to the coal ash regulation bill, Harrison also introduced bills to prohibit the use of coal in North Carolina plants from mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia, impose a moratorium on constructing new coal-fired power plants, and streamline permitting of wind energy facilities during the past session. She has also introduced legislation to protect consumers from predatory mortgage lending practices and abusive practices by collection agencies. Harrison has also demanded an investigation of Blue Cross Blue Shield, which controls 96% of health insurance coverage in North Carolina.
RALEIGH — Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked the state’s attorney general and Department of Insurance to investigate Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s use of campaign-style tactics aimed at defeating controversial federal health insurance legislation.
The Greensboro Democrat wants to know whether the insurer violated the state’s do-not-call registry law with an automated message in late October. And she questions whether it is proper for the insurer to use its premiums to pay for the calls and two recent pieces of direct mail.
Greensboro News Record
Please consider making a donation to support Pricey Harrison (every little bit helps) and contacting her office to thank her for being a progressive voice for North Carolina. NOTE: Harrison does not take money from lobbyists, political action committees, corporations, or advocacy organizations. In other words, she walks the walk when it comes to campaign finance reform.
2. Urge EPA regulation of coal ash as a hazardous waste.
The EPA will announce its decision on regulating coal ash as hazardous waste in April. At the moment, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is holding up the release of new regulations. The OMB and EPA are being barraged with pleas from the coal industry, utilities, business groups, state regulatory agencies, and politicians opposing classification of coal ash waste as a hazardous material. It would be extremely helpful if you would take a moment to drop a line to the OMB to encourage them to move forward with regulation of coal combustion waste as a hazardous material. Remind them that the patchwork of state regulatory agencies has failed to protect the public against spills and contamination, there is overwhelming evidence of heavy metal toxic contamination in water on or near containment sites, and secondary uses need to be tightly regulated using a national standard to prevent contamination of water resources.
Use this form from the Natural Resource Defense Council to provide feedback to the OMB: NRDC form