Florence’s Floodwaters Breach Defenses at Power Plant, Sending Toxic Coal Ash Into River

Duke Energy shut down a power plant in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Friday after a dam at the site breached, allowing coal ash into the nearby Cape Fear River, the company said.

The Environmental Protection Agency links the substances in coal ash — including heavy metals like arsenic and lead — to nervous-system problems, reproductive issues and cancer.

It was not immediately clear how much coal ash was moving into the river. The extent of the release will depend on how quickly the breach can be stopped.

The operation that was closed, Duke’s L.V. Sutton plant, has been a growing concern since last week, when rains associated with Hurricane Florence caused a coal ash landfill at the site to erode, spilling ash onto a roadway. According to the company, 2,000 cubic yards of ash escaped but the spill was quickly contained.

Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental group, disputed that, saying at least some of the coal ash spilled last week entered the environment.

The release Friday concerns the two unlined coal ash ponds on site, which contain a combined 2.1 million cubic yards of coal ash, according to a report prepared for Duke Energy this year. That amount of coal ash would fill the Houston Astrodome 1.3 times.

In 2014 Duke Energy’s Dan River plant in Eden, North Carolina, spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River, prompting the state to require Duke to close all of its coal ash ponds, a process that is not yet complete.

In May 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a $102 million fine against Duke Energy after the utility pleaded guilty to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act at several of its North Carolina facilities.

The fine included a $68 million criminal penalty and a $34 million for environmental projects and land conservation to benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia. Four of the nine charges resulted from the Dan River spill. The other violations were based on allegations of historical violations at the company’s other operations.

The L.V. Sutton plant now burns natural gas, but until 2013 it housed a three-unit, 575-megawatt coal-fired plant. The coal ash from that operation remains on site.