Duke Power

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Stop Duke from polluting the Dan River! (with toxic coal ash)
(petition to NC DEQ)

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Court Upholds National Safeguard for Coal Ash
Ruling Casts Doubt on Legality of EPA’s Plan to Weaken Coal Ash Protections, Nation’s No. 2 Toxic Pollution Threat.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision today holding that the first-ever federal safeguards set by the Obama Administration for coal ash dumps do not sufficiently protect communities and the environment from pollution from that toxic waste.

The court’s decision today sided with public interest groups by concluding that the Obama-era rule failed to adequately protect against pollution from unlined and inadequately lined ash pits, many of which are already leaking dangerous pollution into rivers and streams. The Court ordered EPA to revise the rule to properly address the health and environmental threats from these dump sites. The Court also agreed with public interest groups that EPA did not go far enough in regulating coal ash dumps, holding that EPA improperly exempted coal ash ponds at closed coal-fired power plants from regulation. Rejecting industry challenges to the rule, the Court further held that EPA acted within its authority to regulate coal ash ponds no longer actively receiving waste and located at operating plants.

“With this ruling, the Court has delivered a win for communities and for public health – EPA and utilities can no longer ignore the clear dangers posed by unlined coal ash ponds or poorly lined ponds,” said Lisa Hallowell, Senior Attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “The evidence of toxic pollution leaking from these ponds is staggering, and communities can rest easier that these utilities will no longer be let off the hook.”

The court decision also follows the March release of nationwide water testing data from coal ash sites that indicates that industry dump sites are polluting groundwater at almost every plant in the country. Together with today’s decision, those test results, and other results available on the Environmental Integrity Project’s ashtracker website (www.ashtracker.org), suggest that EPA will have an even more difficult time justifying rollbacks of the rule going forward.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for the people who are exposed to toxic waste from coal-fired power plants,” said Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. “The court’s decision limits the Trump Administration’s ability to further roll back these vital health protections by recognizing the danger that these dumps already pose.”

The Court’s decision follows the Trump EPA’s publication this July of revisions that weaken the rule promulgated by the Obama administration. The court decision casts serious doubt on the legality of those revisions, which, among other things, extend the deadline to close leaking unlined coal ash ponds. A defeat for the Trump Administration on those revisions would be par for the course: courts have repeatedly struck down the Administration’s attempts to eviscerate environmental protections....

Hey Obama: .
Hey Dolt .45: .

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It's tragic what's likely to happen with ENC's coal ash and livestock waste lagoons. If only we had some warning and if only environmental groups had pressured Duke, feedlots, meat-processing companies like Smithfield Foods, and the NC GOP. Oh wait . . .

Hurricane Florence Is Barreling Toward North Carolina’s Coal Ash Pits

After Hurricane Matthew inundated parts of the southeast in 2016, aerial photos showed North Carolina’s Neuse River overflowing into a Duke Energy coal ash pond, flushing unknown amounts of the coal byproduct into the local ecosystem.

Photos taken after the storm also revealed that a Duke Energy cooling pond dam had collapsed, as well as the flooding of several livestock poop lagoons around North Carolina.

With Hurricane Florence barreling toward the Carolina coast this week, environmentalists worry flooding could once again carry industrial byproducts out of their impoundments. The ash is a byproduct of burning coal for power, which is then doused with water and left in containment ponds for years. Much of that waste is stored in ponds that are unlined or of questionable structural integrity, increasing the possibility that they will leak toxic elements like arsenic, mercury and lead.

Duke Energy, which is North Carolina’s largest power supplier, has 31 coal ash basins across the state, holding 111 million tons of waste. Environmental groups have been pushing for the sites to be cleaned up for years, particularly after an impoundment failed and caused a devastating ash spill into the Dan River in 2014.

“Duke Energy has fallen behind in getting these sites cleaned up so here we are again facing the risk of catastrophe in the coastal plain of North Carolina,” said Frank Holleman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, one of Duke Energy’s adversaries in court....

Comments:

The EPA has announced new standards. Coal ash waste is now categorized as one of the four basic food groups for families earning less than $150k per year. Mission Accomplished!

Y'all can go home now, just don't drink or wash in the water.
I hear clean coal is just around the corner.

Cheaper rates and higher profits mean nothing when you don't have clean drinking water.

This is what happens when your state's legislature is owned my corporate interests like Duke Energy.

[Vrede too]

Tell NC DEQ: Protect our groundwater from coal ash pollution

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Add your voice to N.C. coal ash closure plans

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Groups target Duke Energy in campaign to end monopoly control of NC electric system
Social justice and clean energy groups call for state leaders to allow energy choice, saying hurricanes, rising electric rates, other harms show state system is broken

[bannination]

Groups target Duke Energy in campaign to end monopoly control of NC electric system
Social justice and clean energy groups call for state leaders to allow energy choice, saying hurricanes, rising electric rates, other harms show state system is broken

Honestly, I did not realize they were in a monopoly position. That explains a lot.

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Tell your (NC state) senator to say NO to Duke Energy’s annual rate hike bill

[neoplacebo]

Tell your (NC state) senator to say NO to Duke Energy’s annual rate hike bill

I read a story the other day titled "60 companies that paid zero in US taxes" last year. Duke Energy was on the list. It listed their income as 3.029 billion and their "tax rate" was negative 21% Looks to me like they should be giving out rebates instead of increases. :confusion-shrug:

[Vrede too]

I read a story the other day titled "60 companies that paid zero in US taxes" last yeer. Duke Energy was on the list. It listed their income as 3.029 billion and their "tax rate" was negative 21% Looks to me like they should be giving out rebates instead of increases. :confusion-shrug:

billy.pilgrim mentioned that.
http://www.blueridgedebate.com/forum/vi ... 033#p95033
Disgusting. I missed that Duke is on the list, thanks.

Billions in Profits, No Taxes: How the Trump Tax Code Let 26 Companies Off the Hook
A new study shows how the GOP’s 2017 tax bill helped subsidize corporate America

We knew President Trump’s 2017 tax bill favored corporate America, but this is ridiculous.

According to a new study, a group of 60 companies in the Fortune 500 booked nearly $80 billion in total profits in 2018, but each owed $0 in taxes. Worse: Many of these companies actually got rebates from Uncle Sam, totaling more than $4 billion....

Below, according to ITEP, is a list of the 26 companies that raked in at least $1 billion in profits but — through the magic of the 2017 tax bill, edgy accounting practices, special carveouts and corporate tax shelters — did not pay anything to the government on their earnings.

Company Paying No Tax : 2018 Profit

Amazon : $10.8 billion

...

Duke Energy : $3 billion

...

Cons are still shrieking about Amazon's HQ being chased away from NYC by AOC. When I point out that she was hardy alone, ask them why they think that the tax-skating richest man in the world should get massive local taxpayer subsidies, and call them "commies for the fat cats," they run away.

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Tell Gov. Cooper and DEQ "Thank You" for Doing the Right Thing on Duke Energy’s Coal Ash

Dirty Duke Energy is trying to avoid accountability again. Duke Energy says it will appeal the recent order by the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to make the company fully clean up ALL its coal ash across the state.

Over the past several years, well over ten thousand North Carolinians -- activists like you -- have taken action to make Duke Energy clean up its coal ash mess.

We need to show our support for Gov. Cooper and DEQ and encourage them to hold strong against Duke Energy! Let’s join together to thank Gov. Cooper and DEQ for doing what the science requires to protect our communities and waters.

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A testy Senate passes controversial ratemaking bill that would favor Duke Energy

Duke-backed ratemaking bill in North Carolina could decrease regulatory oversight

Tell your legislator to oppose the Duke Energy boondoggle bill (S559) that, if passed, would allow them to shift the risk of their bad investments to North Carolina ratepayers.

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Tell your (NC state) Representative to say NO to Duke Energy’s rate hike bill

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N.C. settlement results in largest coal ash cleanup in America

Last week an historic legal settlement will lead to the nation’s largest cleanup of toxic coal ash right here in NC (approximately 80 million tons). Thank Gov. Cooper and his DEQ for their leadership on this issue

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The (NC) Utilities Commission will soon decide if they’ll allow Duke Energy to raise our energy bills. The proposal lacks transparency and could pave the way for bigger increases in the future. Sign our petition asking them to reject Duke's proposal.