RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Prosecutors have issued more subpoenas in a felony investigation of North Carolina regulators after coal ash at a Duke Energy plant spilled into the Dan River.
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Thomas Walker confirmed last week a grand jury is looking into "a suspected felony" after the spill, discovered Feb. 2, fouled the water to the extent officials urged the public to avoid contact with the water. The Justice Department is investigating the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the (Charlotte) News & Observer reported last week.
The newspaper reported Wednesday the investigation may be expanding to include other Duke Energy power plants. The report said prosecutors issued new subpoenas Tuesday for DENR records on all 14 of Duke Energy's coal-fired plants, both active and retired. The company confirmed it has received the subpoena.
The News & Observer said the subpoenas request documents on communications, payments, gifts and contracts between DENR officials and the energy company.
Environmental advocates said they have tried three times in the past year to bring lawsuits against Duke to clean up defective coal ash dumps, but were pre-empted each time by the DENR. They accuse the head of the regulatory agency, John Skvarla, of engaging in a "cozy" relationship with Duke.
A security guard discovered a pipe running beneath a 27-acre toxic waste pond at Duke's Dan River Steam Station had collapsed, and coal ash combined with contaminated water was draining into the river. There was no public announcement of the problem until the next day, and first reports by the DENR and Duke Energy omitted mention of the scope of the spill -- which eventually amounted to 82,000 tons of coal ash and 27 million gallons of tainted water, the Observer said.
The Charlotte Business Journal reported Wednesday state officials have ordered Duke Energy to shut cease discharges from a second stormwater pipe under the ash pond.
Tom Reeder, director of the state Division of Water Resources, said the second stormwater pipe "may also be leaking water contaminated with coal ash pollutants into the Dan River."
