Duke Energy pleads guilty to causing illegal pollution
Source: Associated Press
Duke Energy pleads guilty to causing illegal pollution
By MICHAEL BIESECKER, Associated Press | May 14, 2015 | Updated: May 14, 2015 3:30pm
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Duke Energy pleaded guilty Thursday to nine violations of the federal Clean Water Act and will pay $102 million in fines and restitution for illegally discharging pollution from coal-ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants.
The plea by the nation's largest electricity company, part of a negotiated settlement with federal prosecutors, is the result of an investigation that began in February after a pipe collapsed under a coal ash dump, coating 70 miles of the Dan River in gray sludge.
Duke has agreed to pay $68 million in fines and $34 million on environmental projects and land conservation that will benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia.
Judge Malcolm Howard said this was the largest federal criminal fine in North Carolina history.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Duke-pleads-guilty-in-federal-court-for-coal-ash-6263354.php
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