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Coalition sues Duke Energy asserting coal ash violation at Belews Creek plant

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Coalition sues Duke Energy asserting coal ash violation at Belews Creek plant

A coalition of environmental and civil rights groups filed a complaint in federal court asserting that Duke Energy Carolinas LLC has violated the Clean Water Act by allowing pollutants to leak from its Belews Creek coal-fired power plant in Stokes County, N.C., into nearby waterways.

A group composed of Appalachian Voices, the Stokes County Branch of the NAACP, the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a complaint with the District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina seeking to stop the Duke Energy Corp. subsidiary's alleged contamination of groundwater, Belews Lake, Little Belews Creek and the Dan River with elevated levels of several pollutants, according to a Dec. 5 news release.

North Carolina NAACP President Anthony Spearman noted in the news release that the Belews Creek coal ash pit is located "in the middle of a mostly black community of limited means." The groups allege in the suit that the waterways around the Belews Creek plant are being polluted by leaks of coal ash, untreated coal ash water, leachate, heavy metals, carcinogens and other contaminants.

"Duke Energy is continuing to pollute the groundwater and creek connected to Belews Lake and the Dan River and plans to do so into the future despite the harm it has already caused and the concerns voiced repeatedly by the community near its leaking, unlined coal ash pit at Belews Creek," Myra Blake, attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in the news release.

In September, Earthjustice and Southern Environmental Law Center also accused Duke Energy of withholding dam safety information by blacking out "coal ash spill maps and information for how to contact emergency responders in the event of a disaster."

Duke Energy in October posted more detailed information, including flood inundation maps, as part of its emergency action plans for potential dam failures or other serious incidents at its coal ash sites. In November 2016, the company announced that it will excavate the majority of its ash ponds across the company's fleet to comply with federal regulations but will leave ash in place at 18 basins, including Belews Creek.