Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh, North Carolina, is investigating the possibility that a crime occurred when tons of coal ash from a Duke Energy power plant spilled into a river used for drinking water. Duke is cooperating with the investigation.
• The attorney's office has ordered Duke officials and state environmental regulators to appear before a grand jury next month.
• The North Carolina Legislature may open its own investigation. "It’s time to stop talking about containment and start talking about a solution," Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Republican, said. "It’s time to get rid of all of them as quickly as they can."
• Duke has lowered the amount of ash it believes spilled into the Dan River near Eden, North Carolina. Now Duke believes that 30,000 tons to 39,000 tons spilled into the river, down from an earlier estimate of up to 82,000 tons.

Dive Insight:

It's not surprising that federal prosecutors are investigating the spill, one of the worst in U.S. history. Environmental groups have been pressing Duke to clean up its 31 coal ash ponds in North Carolina. Depending on what investigators find, the end result may be action by the utility to deal with the ponds.