State permits pave way for Riverbend ash removal

North Carolina’s environment agency issued permits Friday that will let Duke Energy begin hauling coal ash from the Riverbend power plant west of Charlotte.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued stormwater permits for three Duke plants: Riverbend on Mountain Island Lake, Allen on Lake Wylie and Marshall on Lake Norman.

Riverbend, which perches above Charlotte’s water supply, was named as one of four high-priority plants in state coal ash legislation last year. The new law requires that ash be removed from those power plants by 2019.

Allen and Marshall have not been named as high priorities.

“This clears the path to initiate ash removal from the Riverbend site to a fully lined facility,” Duke said in a statement. “The company has been evaluating landfill options that are ready to receive the material and will start with a few trucks to pilot the process and minimize impacts to neighbors.”

Duke announced a first phase of ash removal last year to excavate 1 million tons of ash at Riverbend. Most of it will be sent to an open-pit clay mine in Chatham County, southwest of Raleigh.

Ash ponds at all 14 of Duke’s operating or retired coal-fired power plants must be closed by 2029. The stormwater permits issued Friday, and others to come later, are intended to keep pollutants from washing into lakes and rivers during that process.

The new permits are separate from more controversial permits that regulate water discharged from ash ponds at Duke’s power plants. Ash contains potentially toxic metals that can contaminate water.

State regulators held a public hearing in April on proposed permits for the three Charlotte-area power plants, but have not issued them.

Environmental advocates and neighbors criticized the proposals for not being stringent enough to control contaminants. The new permits would also, for the first time, cover previously illicit leaks from ash ponds.

This story was originally published May 15, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "State permits pave way for Riverbend ash removal."