Dive Summary:
- The state of North Carolina has expanded its lawsuit against Duke Energy over water pollution from coal ash ponds to include pollution in Mountain Island Lake--the Charlotte region’s primary source of drinking water.
- The state has already sued Duke over similar contamination near a coal-fired power plant in Asheville. That suit closed April 1 but ponds containing millions of tons of coal ash remain on site.
- Duke has not yet announced how it it will handle the remaining coal ash ponds.
From the article:
"The Charlotte Mecklenburg Utility District, known as CMUD, tests the raw water before it is treated and pumped to homes and businesses to drink, and has given it a clean bill of health. But Duke University chemist Avner Vengosh reported that under severe drought conditions, arsenic trapped in the muck outside water intake valves could bubble up into the raw water supply."
