NC officials want pipes at Duke plants probed
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina regulators are pressing Duke Energy to send robot cameras up drainage pipes at all of its coal ash dumps in the state following a big spill last month that left 70 miles of the Dan River coated in toxic sludge.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Wednesday it asked the company to take video from inside pipes at 14 facilities and to develop new emergency action plans in case of another disaster.
The massive Feb. 2 spill in Eden was triggered when a stormwater pipe running underneath a 27-acre coal ash dump collapsed.
Inspectors recently expressed concern about potentially contaminated water flowing from a heavily corroded pipe at another Duke plant adjacent to the Broad River. Coals ash contains hazardous chemicals including arsenic, lead and mercury.
