Crack in Duke coal ash dam concerns NC officials
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina regulators say Duke Energy must fix a crack in a dam at a coal ash dump where the company was caught illegally pumping 61 million gallons of contaminated water into the Cape Fear River.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Friday approved Duke's emergency plan to repair the crack in the earthen dam at its Cape Fear Plant that holds back millions of tons of toxic coal ash. The plan calls for excavating dirt and then stabilizing the part of the dam where the crack formed.
State inspectors say the dam is not it imminent danger of collapse.
The new concerns come after a massive Feb. 2 coal ash spill at another Duke plant in Eden coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge.
