Perdue signs coal ash bill

Submitted by bkrueger on July 31, 2009 - 5:04pm.
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Gov. Beverly Perdue signed a bill today that will increase inspections of high hazard coal ash ponds in North Carolina.

“Because of potential risk posed by the location of North Carolina’s coal ash ponds, we must provide greater oversight and more frequent inspections,” Perdue said in a statement. “This legislation will keep our citizens safer and our dams more secure.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has identified 12 coal ash dams in North Carolina, the most of any state in the country, reports Rob Christensen.

The issue drew attention because a dam burst in Tennessee last year, causing five million cubic yard of sludge containing many metals to escape.

Power companies dispose of their coal ash by mixing it with water and pumping it into ponds near their power plants.

Currently, power companies are only required to file reports every five years by private engineers on the structural conditions of the dams.

The new law, sponsored by Rep. Pricey Harrison, a leading environmentalist from Greensboro, and Sen. David Hoyle, a major voice for business from Gastonia, requires a state inspection every two years.

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Re: Perdue signs coal ash bill

Submitted by redriver on August 1, 2009 - 8:44pm.

This shows the power of the utility industry. I have a fish pond dam that has to be inspected every year or so and they can have one every 5 years. What a scam. They should never be allowed to hide any ash in water ponds. There are other ways to protect from contamination but naturally, this one is the cheapest.

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Re: Perdue signs coal ash bill

Submitted by cjmalone on July 31, 2009 - 10:03pm.

This is a good law that will protect the public against the danger of a coal ash dam breaking and giving us the great problems that Tennessee has experienced because of the massive amounts of sludge let loose in their state. As Ben Franklin once wrote:"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

We should be grateful to Rep. Pricey Harrison and Sen. David Hoyle for getting the bill passed, and to Gov. Bev Perdue for signing it into law.

This is the kind of issue I will be paying attention to in my own campaign for the NC Senate Dist. 15, in 2010, as we examine other environmental challenges in the Triangle area.

Charles Malone

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