North Carolina Regulators Shielded Duke's Coal Ash Pollution [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Over the last year, environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps like the one that ruptured last week, spewing enough toxic sludge into a North Carolina river to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools.
Each time, they say, their efforts have been stymied — by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The state agency has blocked the citizen lawsuits by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority under the federal act to take enforcement action. After negotiating with Duke, the state proposed settlements where the nation's largest electricity provider pays modest fines but is under no requirement to actually clean up its coal ash ponds.
Clean water advocates have long complained that state regulators are too cozy with the polluters they regulate. But they say that coordination and cooperation has become even more overt since the January 2013 inauguration of Gov. Pat McCrory, a pro-business Republican who worked at Duke Energy for 28 years.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=22426667&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26redir_esc%3D%26client%3Dms-android-att-us%26source%3Dandroid-browser-type%26v%3D133247963%26qsubts%3D1391972485380%26q%3Dnorth%2Bcarolina%2Bregulators%2Bduke%26v%3D133247963
= new reply since forum marked as read