Green groups say new leak found at Duke Energy ash pond

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Waterkeeper Alliance

Duke Energy says there is no indication that any leaks from ash ponds at the closed Buck Steam Station have damaged the water quality of the Yadkin River.

John Downey

Senior Staff Writer- Charlotte Business Journal

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Environmental groups say that recent low-water levels on the Yadkin River exposed leaks from ash ponds at Duke Energy's shuttered Buck Steam Station they say contain typical coal ash contaminants.

John Suttles of the Environmental Law Center says the Yadkin Riverkeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance organizations spotted a quarter-mile long section of the river's bank along one of the ponds discolored by some kind of leakage in mid-November.

Tests of the orange-colored seepage showed levels of arsenic, barium, cadmium selenium and other coal-ash contaminants at levels higher than allowed in surface waters or groundwater.

Suttles notes the tests were not taken of the river water. The material itself was tested.

DENR tests

But he says the seepage is evidence the ponds are leaking more than Duke or state regulators have acknowledged. Neither the utility nor the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources have previously reported any leaks from the Buck ponds at the site the groups found

"We have been telling Duke and DENR and anyone who would listen that these unlined coal ash pits are leaking into groundwater and surface waters," Suttles says. "This show that exactly what we said was happening is happening."

DENR took water samples Friday near the sites reported by the groups. The samples have not been tested as yet. It confirms there have not been any seeps or leaks from the ash ponds identified in that area before. The source of the discolored material has not yet been determined, says spokesman Jamie Kritzer.

The sites were only visible because the water level was reduced 14 feet to allow for bridge maintenance nearby, he says.

John Downey covers the energy industry and public companies for the Charlotte Business Journal.