Some coal ash gets in Neuse
By Steve Herring
Published in News on October 18, 2016 10:05 AM
Duke Energy engineers have confirmed that some material, including coal ash, eroded and was carried by floodwaters outside one of the berms of an inactive basin at the H.F. Lee plant just west of Goldsboro.
Historically high floodwaters in the Neuse River caused by Hurricane Matthew covered three inactive coal ash basins at the power plant located on the Neuse River.
But water samples taken by the company on Oct. 12 just downstream of the inactive basins do not show the presence of measurable ash-related constituents in the Neuse River, Duke Energy officials said in a press release.
The press release did not specify how much material was carried away by the floodwaters.
Matthew Starr, Upper Neuse Riverkeeper, Monday night said he had been in Wayne County all day and not seen the results of Duke's water testing.
Starr said he had heard about the press release, but that he heard the amount released is being referred to as about a small pickup truckload.
"The fact that they can come up with an arbitrary number like saying it's nothing more than a small pickup truckload of ash that has been released from the inactive ponds that are still inundated with water today and have been for what, six days now -- that is a pretty ambiguous statement," he said.
"There is just no way to know. You are talking about a large swath of land that was under water for days. With a river that is moving at just an insane rate, it's eroding and chewing away everything that it goes past. So just to throw something out there is, I don't think very accurate. How in the world can they know that?"
Starr said he would like more information on the sampling process -- what was sampled, how it was sampled and where.
"I don't put much stock in what they are saying that there was only a small pickup load of ash and that they did a sample somewhere for something and it didn't come back high," Starr said. "I guess they were looking for constituents of coal ash which would be heavy metals."
The floodwaters also resulted in a 50- to 60-breach in the earthen basin surrounding the plant's 545-acre cooling pond.
Plans are in place, and are being validated by outside engineers, to make necessary repairs to the breach, Duke officials said on Friday.
The cooling pond is a man-made reservoir that was constructed to supply cooling water to power plants at the site.
Crews began placing sandbags in the breach Saturday. and by Sunday 20 to 25 of the bags were in place, said Duke spokesperson Danielle Peoples.
One of the problems had been finding a way into the site for the large truck carrying materials, she said.
The sandbags have slowed the flow coming out of the cooling pond.
"Today I think we will make good progress, but it will take a couple days to complete," she said.
A rocky material will be used to fill the breach when the sandbags are placed, she said.
Because the inactive basins have well-established cover -- including organic material, grass, shrubs and trees -- they have performed as expected in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, the officials said.
As floodwaters continue to recede, engineers and environmental experts will continue to closely inspect the inactive basins and will be able to better assess the amount of material that was displaced, duke officials said in the press release.
Out of an abundance of caution, the company notified appropriate regulators of the observations, the officials said.
In June 2015, the company recommended excavation of ash because of potential flooding at the facility.
That is now a requirement under North Carolina's coal ash management law and that work is to be completed by 2028.