Criminal charges filed against Duke Energy

12311876586_dd088acae8_zThe U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against Duke Energy for violating the federal Clean Water Act at coal ash sites across North Carolina. The company announced today that it has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors to resolve the charges that includes $102.2 million for fines and mitigation.

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Danger still looms over the Dan River

amy-rally-speachIn the wake of the Dan River coal ash spill, which spewed 39,000 tons of the toxic waste into the scenic river, much attention has been given to the problems of leaky, unlined coal ash pits across North Carolina. What hasn’t received adequate attention is another menacing threat just upstream from the site of last year’s spill.

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Today, I prayed we #kickcoalash

belewsGuest Contributor Caroline Rutledge Armijo: On Sunday, Residents for Coal Ash Clean Up met on Belews Lake, overlooking the smokestacks at Duke Energy’s Belews Steam Station in Stokes County, N.C. Today marks the one year anniversary of the coal ash spill into the Dan River, the third largest coal ash spill in our nation’s history but likely a drop in the bucket of what would happen if there was a spill at Belews Creek.

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Atlantic Coast Pipeline Proposal Advances

Duke Energy, Dominion Resources and other partners are teaming up to build a 550-mile pipeline to better access natural gas produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, where fracking has proliferated in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

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Seleni-what?

Illustration by Jack Rooney

Most people have probably never heard of selenium, but for coal operators and fish it’s a big deal. Appalachian Voices’ water quality expert takes a moment to explain the issues surrounding this mineral — necessary in small amounts but toxic to aquatic life even at very low levels — and the EPA’s controversial attempts to regulate it.

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The Energy Report Round-Up

By Brian Sewell Dan River Coal Ash Cleanup “Complete” After removing approximately six percent of the coal ash it spilled into the Dan River in February, Duke Energy announced it has “completed cleanup efforts” to remove coal ash from the river in North Carolina and Virginia. The Dan River Basin Association, a local group working…

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North Carolina Coal Ash Bill Pending

By Brian Sewell On July 14, the N.C. Senate voted unanimously to reject the state House’s revised version of the Coal Ash Management Plan, which weakened the cleanup requirements in the Senate’s original bill. Now, a committee with members of both chambers must craft a compromise bill. Sen. Tom Apodaca, who sponsored the Senate bill,…

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Anna Behnke: A Seventh Grade Activist

By Sarah Kellogg Seventh grader Anna Behnke loves to swim in Mountain Island Lake, but two years ago, she learned about the water pollution caused by Duke Energy’s Riverbend coal-fired power plant and began to worry about the impact the pollution could have on children’s health. So, for a sixth grade science project, Behnke tested…

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Investigation Finds Fraud in Black Lung Cases

By Kimber Ray A year-long investigation revealed evidence this fall that the coal industry has supported fraudulent practices in order to block workers’ compensation claims for black lung disease. According to the investigation conducted by The Center for Public Integrity and ABC News, it appears that officials at prestigious medical institutions including Johns Hopkins Hospital…

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