2014 Dan River coal ash spill

[3] This catastrophe occurred at the site of the Dan River Steam Station, a retired coal power plant which had ceased operation in 2012.

[4] Duke Energy apologized for the incident and announced detailed plans for removal of coal ash at the Dan River site.

[2] Immediate tests showed increased amounts of arsenic and selenium,[6] but the river was deemed by state officials to be a safe source for drinking water.

However, further tests showed the ash to contain pollutants including but not limited to arsenic, copper, selenium, iron, zinc and lead.

[8] EPA has been collecting dissolved contaminant concentration data in the Dan River (from the VA/NC state line to midway between Danville and South Boston) since the coal ash spill.

[13] This is due to samples passing human health screening, the potential for historical contamination to become re-suspended, and removal being more detrimental to certain endangered species than the coal ash itself.

[17][18][19] Prior to the incident, environmental groups had attempted to sue Duke Energy three times in 2013 under the Clean Water Act to force the company to fix leaks in its coal ash dumps.

[20][21] At the federal level, Duke was prosecuted by the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and pled guilty to nine charges of criminal negligence under the Clean Water Act.

Part of the agreement is having Duke Energy identify areas of necessary cleanup on the Dan River that is estimated to cost around 1 million dollars.

The other 2 million dollars is allocated to EPA to address future response methods needed in order to clean up the Dan River.

[7] Associates have said that well before the Dan River incident the company had allocated 130 million dollars to transitioning plants to handle fly ash in dry form and manage it in lined landfills.

In September the corporation accepted a settlement just shy of the original amount at $5,983,750, to be paid for fines, restitution, cleanup assessment, removal, and community action initiatives.

[26] These assessments were approved by the EPA in consultation with the affected state agencies including NCDEQ and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ).

[26] Following the spill and written into the AOC are monitoring protocols in which EPA will sporadically authorize the NCDEQ and VDEQ to take split or duplicate water samples to ensure consistent quality after removal of the coal ash.

[26] As of April 1, 2019 North Carolina has ordered Duke Energy to dig up millions of tons of coal ash at six of its power plants.