Coal Company Caught Dumping 61 Million Gallons of Waste Into NC Drinking Water

by Jameson

North Carolina regulators have caught Duke Energy, the largest electricity company in the country, illegally and intentionally dumping up to 61 million gallons of toxic coal waste into the Cape Fear river - the same river several cities in the state get their drinking water from.

According to the State Department of Environment and Natural Resources, an investigation revealed that Duke Energy has been committing the crime for months before an environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance found them out using aerial photos. The photos revealed that Duke Energy had been sucking water directly from a large coal ash dump and distributing it into the nearby woods and into a canal leading to the river. The waste is said to contain such highly toxic chemicals as arsenic, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals. All of which is highly deadly to humans, but also to the wildlife whose environment Duke Energy just sprayed with the stuff many times over.

After North Carolina authorities were alerted to the illegal and potentially deadly atrocity being committed in their own backyard, they gave Duke Energy a heads up. Rather than showing up with handcuffs, they phoned the company and told them they would be coming over the next day to investigate. By the time they caught there, Duke had stopped the coal dump and attempted to cover their tracks. Unfortunately, they had one weak link. It was Waterkeeper Alliance's photos that proved Duke Energy's undoing.

"The incident shows the importance of citizen involvement," said Frank Holleman, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. "Had the Waterkeeper Alliance not been inspecting that site, it's likely that no one would have known it was happening, or DENR would not have found it until later and even more contaminated water might have been pumped into the river."

Remarkably, this isn't even Duke Energy's first violation this month. In fact, they've been cited an astonishing eight times for environmental violations in March - and the month isn't even over. It seems as though, cutting corners and committing crimes is part of the business plan, rather than a deviation from it.

That shouldn't be surprising when we consider just how cheap it is to break the law rather than abide by it as an energy company. The biggest polluters in the country almost always get away with it, and when they don't their punishments are hardly worthy of the name. Let's take a look at one example from Duke itself:

In the process of litigating a previous coal ash dump violation, North Carolina regulators where in the process of offering Duke Energy a settlement that would make them pay just a $99,000 fine and absolutely no requirement that they help clean up the mess they had made (the state would have to pick up that tab). A $99,000 fine might sound like a lot, but actually it would have been a serious win for Duke. The company is worth $50 billion and its CEO makes double that fine in a month. Instead of hitting Duke with a punishment so harsh that they would never think of polluting again, regulators were ready to slap them on the wrist and go out for celebratory drinks. The only reason the deal wasn't signed was because, in a truly inspiring cosmic event, just before both sides could put ink to paper, a facility run by Duke Energy had another massive leakcoating 70 miles of the Dan River with toxic sludge. Regulators, pressured by a public that had finally had enough, backed away from the deal. That may seem like an awful run of bad luck for a company that was just about to be let off the hook, but it was almost inevitable - Duke Energy pollutes like the rest of us breathe.

But all of that is ancient history, or as the rest of us call it, February. Duke went back to the error of its ways and is back to being charged with gross misconduct again. It has yet to be seen whether this one will be the one where prosecutors get serious about environmental destruction.  The regulatory department, DENR, itself has come under suspicion for being far too close with the companies its supposed to watch over. For example, in the case of the Dan River spill, DENR was so lenient with Duke that the U.S. Justice Department said it was launching a criminal investigation into the mishandling of the case. What tipped the feds off? Was it the laughably small fine? The slow as molasses investigation? or maybe the phone calls from regulators to Duke Energy announcing the days they would be investigating them ahead of time?