Duke - Removing Coal Ash Dumps From Watersheds Would Cost $10 Billion, Take Decades; Guess Who Pays?
RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke Energy told North Carolina lawmakers Tuesday that removing all of the company's coal ash away from the state's rivers and lakes would take decades and cost up to $10 billion, with its electricity customers likely footing nearly all the bill.
In a presentation to a state legislative committee, Duke's North Carolina president Paul Newton suggested the company needs flexibility to consider more cost-efficient options. The company's proposal is to remove the coal ash from unlined dumps at four of its power plants, but then leave much of what is stored at 10 other sites in place after covering it with plastic and soil. Environmental groups are calling for new legislation requiring Duke to move all of its coal ash to lined landfills away from waterways following the massive Feb. 2 spill from a collapsed pipe in Eden that coated 70 miles of the Dan River in gray sludge.
State officials say all of Duke's 33 unlined dumps at 14 coal-fired power plants scattered across the state are oozing out contaminants into groundwater. All told, Duke has more than 100 million tons of the ash, which contains potentially harmful chemicals including arsenic, lead, mercury and chromium.
Newton made no mention of that ongoing pollution as part of his presentation, which included photos of pine trees, waterfowl and deer living at some of the company's older ash dumps closed in the 1970s. He also emphasized recent testing that shows the high levels of toxic chemicals present in the Dan River immediately after the spill have dropped back to within state safety limits.
EDIT
http://www.startribune.com/nation/256264571.html?src=news-stmp
= new reply since forum marked as read
We seem to have an infestation of sleeper trolls
Finishline42:
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demoncrat:
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mybuddy:
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All of them pushing the "Clean Gas" meme ...
