State regulators in North Carolina announced on Friday they have cited Duke Energy Corp. for violating pollution laws after a massive coal ash spill last month.
North Carolina's Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR), which has been criticized over its handling of the Eden plant's spill, has issued two notices of wastewater and stormwater violations, according to Reuters.
The spill in the Dan River is the third-largest spill in U.S. history, and left a coat of coal ash on the bottom of the river for 70 miles, the Los Angeles Times reported. The DENR stated Duke Energy could face fines of up to $25,000 per day for each violation.
According to the New York Times, the leak was caused by a 48-inch stormwater pipe, which ran under a pond used to store coal ash. It broke and allowed 39,000 tons of coal ash to flow into the Dan River.
Duke Energy is the largest electricity utility in the U.S., and was cited for failing to control discharges of coal ash or contaminated coal ash water from the storage basin, the Los Angeles Times reported. The company was also cited for violating surface water safety standards, failing to prevent pollutants from reaching the river and failing to have a state permit for discharges into the river.
John Skvarla, secretary of the DENR, said in a news release "These are violations of state and federal law, and we are holding the utility responsible."
Duke Energy and the state regulator announced that the leak has been plugged, according to Reuters. The DENR said it planned to change permitting that let Duke Energy discharge certain amounts of wastewater. The DENR said it also planned to make the company move thousands of tons of coal ash from storage ponds to a lined landfill. Duke Energy said drinking water is safe and it will continue to test the water in the Dan River.
"We will do the right thing for the river and surrounding communities," Paul Newton, president of Duke Energy North Carolina, said on the company's website. "We are accountable."
