Repairs underway at H.F. Lee plant cooling pond
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 13, 2016 1:14 PM
Full SizeUPDATE --
Duke Energy officials said today that plans are in place, and are being validated by outside engineers, to make necessary repairs to a breach in the earthen cooling pond wall at the H.F. Lee Plant.
Work will proceed once flooding subsides and crews have better access at the site.
For example, more than 45 truckloads of rip rap (stone) have been pre-staged on the property. More than 50 additional loads of material are being delivered today.
Flooding has caused the river to flow across three forested, inactive ash basins at the H.F. Lee site. Those basins normally are dry and do not impound water, and they do not pose a risk for a significant release of material, Duke Energy officials said.
The active ash basin has not been affected by this incident, and the officials the company continue to monitor it.
Historic flooding along the Neuse River from Hurricane Matthew caused the breach.
The break, about 50 to 60 feet wide, is in the southeast corner of the cooling pond -- 545 acres containing approximately 1.2 billion gallons of water.
"We do not have an estimate at this time of how much water has been released," company spokesperson Erin Culbert said in a press release. "Water is still flowing from the cooling pond to the river through the break. Yesterday morning, Oct. 12, our helicopter conducted a visual inspection of the cooling pond and ash basin at about 9:45 a.m. and observed that the system was safe.
"Based on the current flooded state of the Neuse River, this event is expected to have minimal impact, contributing less than an inch of water to the river. Neuse River water continues to flow into the cooling pond, but the water volume is decreasing and is expected to stop in the next day or so."
Flooding along the Neuse River has receded just enough that floodwaters are no longer overflowing the earthen basin wall surrounding the cooling pond, county spokesman Ken Derksen said this morning.
There is water still coming into the cooling pond from the Neuse River through the spillway, and now there is water leaving the cooling pond though the opening in the basin wall, according to the Duke Energy press release.
The cooling pond is a man-made reservoir that was constructed to supply cooling water to power plants at the site.
By taking the plant's steam turbine off-line, the natural gas plant remains operational without cooling water as simple-cycle combustion turbines. The plant's combustion turbines also remain operational.