"RALEIGH — The Duke Energy coal-ash spill landed in the lap of a state legislative environmental oversight panel today and gave lawmakers a rare bird’s-eye look at the documented pollution problem posed by the utility’s coal-waste dumps statewide."

"Four lawsuits filed in 2012 by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources against Duke Energy assert that coal-waste dumps at 11 of Duke’s 14 coal-fired power plants statewide are illegally leaking into North Carolina waterways in violation of federal clean-water laws and monitoring wells at the power plants show that levels of such potentially toxic metals as arsenic, mercury and chromium exceed state-mandated standards.

It took a massive coal-ash spill to bring those violations to the attention of the state Environmental Review Commission."

Bertrand M. Gutierrez reports for the Winston-Salem Journal February 17, 2014. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"OIRA Meetings Stir Controversy over Coal Ash Regulation" (Center for Effective Government) [3]

"Out of Control: Mounting Damages From Coal Ash Waste Sites" (Environmental Integrity Project: 2010) [4]

"EPA Promoted the Use of Coal Ash Products With Incomplete Risk Information" (EPA Office of Inspector General: 2011) [5]

"Coal Ash Said Safe for Recycling by EPA in Win for Industry" (Bloomberg) [6]