INSTITUTE INDEX: Fighting Duke Energy's coal ash dumping plans

By Sue Sturgis / January 9, 2015

The North Carolina sites where Duke Energy plans to dump its coal ash into abandoned clay mines. (Map from Duke Energy's website.)

Date on which the commissioners of Lee County, North Carolina passed a resolution opposing Duke Energy's plans to dump toxic coal ash from distant power plants at a former clay mine there: 1/5/2015

Tons of coal ash Duke Energy wants the state to allow it to dump at that site over the next eight years, a plan local opponents say imposes economic hardship and carries environmental risks: 8 million

Total tons of coal ash the company plans to dump in Lee and neighboring Chatham counties: up to 20 million

Of the seven members of the Lee County commission, number who voted against the anti-dumping resolution: 1

At a November meeting of the Lee County commission to discuss the dumping plan, number of residents who spoke in favor of it: 0

Date on which the Chatham County commissioners also passed a resolution opposing Duke's dumping plans: 12/16/2014

Of the five members of the Chatham County commission, number who voted against the resolution: 0

Tons of coal ash that Duke Energy, which has been under scrutiny since a spill last year from one of its storage ponds contaminated the Dan River, has said it plans to move from existing high-risk dumps to other sites over the next 15 years: 100 million

Responsibility Duke Energy will bear for the waste once it's dumped in the abandoned mines, thanks to a scheme in which ownership of the ash will be transferred to a subsidiary of Charah, the Kentucky-based company Duke is contracting with to handle the disposal: none

Years that North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who previously worked for Duke Energy for 28 years, was employed by Moore & Van Allen, the law firm that represents Charah: 2

Amount in direct campaign contributions McCrory received for his 2008 and 2012 gubernatorial campaigns from Duke Energy-related donors: over $300,000

Amount the company has contributed to the campaigns of North Carolina lawmakers: over $1 million

Percent of Lee County's population that lives in poverty: 17.8

Percentage points by which that exceeds the state's poverty rate: 3.3

Fees the counties stand to collect from Duke Energy for the dumping: none

(Click on figure to go to source.)

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