This is what parts of the Dan River looked like
after Duke Energy leaked 35 million gallons of coal ash into it last February.
Late Friday, federal prosecutors in North Carolina, along with the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section,
filed nine misdemeanor charges against Duke Energy for illegally dumping millions of gallons of toxic coal ash into four of the state's rivers. Four of the charges relate to a 35-million-gallon spill a year ago this month into the Dan River. That tainted the water for 70 miles downstream.
The charges under the Clean Water Act cite negligence. If the feds had cited intentional actions, felony charges would presumably have been filed. But the criminal charges won't bring the matter to a close. Duke still faces civil liability. Lynn Good, Duke’s president and CEO, said in a statement:
“We are accountable for what happened at Dan River and have learned from this event. Our highest priorities are safe operations and the well-being of the people and communities we serve.”
Ha-ha-ha. Of course those are its highest priorities, as Duke's record repeatedly proves.
In addition to the Dan River spill, the $55-billion company is charged with having illegally drained coal ash and wastewater from three power plants into the Catawba River, the Neuse River and the French Broad River. Prosecutors also say Duke failed to maintain treatment system equipment at its Cape Fear power plant, where it dumped 61 million gallons from ash ponds into a stream. Duke has admitted that 200 illegal "seeps" at its 14 coal-fired power plants have leaked three million gallons of coal ash-tainted wastewater a day near rivers and lakes.
A Duke spokesman said Saturday that the company has already negotiated a plea deal that requires it to pay $68.2 million in fines and $34 million for community service and mitigation efforts. The specifics of the plea arrangement have not been released. Duke reported $1.9 billion in profit for 2014. The Charlotte Observer reports that it is unclear whether the settlement would resolve violations being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency and North Carolina regulators.
The Dan River spill, the consequence of a break in a neglected 48-inch stormwater pipe that took six days to plug, brought to national attention the cozy arrangement the company had with state officials, including Republican Gov. Patrick McCrory, who worked at Duke for 28 years, and regulators in the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Despite being aware of the company's numerous environmental violations, including failure to have storm-drain permits, the DENR had for years looked the other way or assessed chintzy penalties.
There's more on this below the fold.
The McCrory administration denied that it had worked with Duke to avoid harsh fines, but Trip Gabriel reported last February:
“The General Assembly doesn’t like you,” an official in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources told supervisors called to a drab meeting room here. “They cut your budget, but you didn’t get the message. And they cut your budget again, and you still didn’t get the message.”
From now on, regulators were told, they must focus on customer service, meaning issuing environmental permits for businesses as quickly as possible. Big changes are coming, the official said, according to three people in the meeting, two of whom took notes. “If you don’t like change, you’ll be gone.”
Environmental advocates had a generally positive response to the federal charges and settlement:
“When anyone pays $100 million to resolve a grand jury investigation, that indicates something serious happened,” said Frank Holleman of the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents advocacy groups that have sued Duke. “It also indicates they should be willing and eager to resolve the civil claims of the government and the citizen suits.”
And Kemp Burdette of Cape Fear River Watch
told the Associated Press:
“It’s not just a slap on the wrist. A $100 million fine is a significant one. It confirms what we’ve been saying all along. It’s good to finally have somebody say, ‘You’re right. Duke was illegally polluting waterways across North Carolina and it was criminal. It wasn’t an accident.'”
Duke has agreed—under pressure—to clean up 108 million tons of coal ash at 32 holding sites by 2029. The company has estimated this will cost it around $3 billion. You can be sure that once that drawn-out process is completed Duke will spend a bunch of bucks for ads claiming it's a model corporate citizen.