Contaminated water seeps from old ash pond pipe at Duke plant on Lake Wylie

by John Downey, originally posted on December 22, 2016

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) failed to inspect a pipe at one of its retired coal ash ponds that now appears to be seeping contaminants at the Allen plant on Lake Wylie.

Environmental groups discovered contaminated water seeping from a corrugated steel pipe at Duke Energy’s Allen Steam Station, which the company failed to inspect following the massive Dan River coal-ash spill in 2014.

The pipe runs to a retired ash pond at the 1,140-megawatt coal plant just west of Charlotte. Duke confirms that initial tests of water seeping from the pipe indicate the presence of boron, a heavy-metal Duke considers a marker of possible coal-ash contamination.

‘Obvious’ failure

Catawba Riverkeeper Sam Perkins says the leaking pipe demonstrates Duke cannot be trusted to safely monitor its ash ponds. And he says it could ultimately cause a massive leak similar to what happened at Dan River.

“This pipe is as obvious as it could be — it should have been identified and it should have been inspected,” Perkins says. “It should concern everyone who lives downstream and everyone who drinks water from the downstream end of Lake Wylie.”

His group advocates excavating coal ash from all 14 current and former Duke coal plants in North Carolina and burying it in lined landfills. Duke proposes leaving ash at the Allen plant and capping it to prevent water from seeping in and causing leaks.

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Contaminated water seeps from old ash pond pipe at Duke plant on Lake Wylie

by John Downey, originally posted on December 22, 2016