Settlement Reached in Largest U.S. Coal Ash Cleanup
The post Settlement Reached in Largest U.S. Coal Ash Cleanup appeared first on POWER Magazine.
Duke Energy will save about $ 1.5 billion in coal ash cleanup costs under a settlement between the utility and environmental and other groups announced Jan. 2 by North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
The DEQ said Duke Energy will need to excavate about 80 million tons of coal ash currently stored in basins at six of the utility’s power generation sites. The ash will be moved to lined landfills. The DEQ said it will be the largest cleanup of coal ash in U.S. history. The utility will be allowed to leave coal ash in place at some of its locations.
Duke Energy already is in the process of closing all its coal ash basins at plants in several states, including 31 in North Carolina. Utilities across the U.S. are spending billions of dollars cleaning up coal ash stored near power plants nationwide.…