Duke Energy's coal ash plan raises worry in Lee County town

Jan 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - Michael Futch The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.

 

For decades, prosperity was built with bricks in the Colon community of Lee County. The best clays were found nearby, and several plants used to operate there.

Those heady days are gone, the brick post office by the railroad tracks since abandoned, and the once dominant Sanford Brick and Tile Co., which produced roughly 800,000 bricks a day, no longer stands.

Over the past couple of months, the community on the outskirts of Sanford has returned to the news.

In November, Duke Energy announced plans to store coal ash in open-pit clay mines on 118 acres used by the former brick-making plant.

Coal ash is the waste material left after coal is burned, and it can contain numerous toxic materials such as lead, arsenic, mercury and selenium.

The proposed storage site would be near Colon and Post Office roads. Abandoned clay pits, now filled with water, pock the earth in these parts.

Duke intends to dispose of 8 million tons of coal ash in Colon alone.

Residents, county officials and environmental groups are concerned about the plan and have expressed opposition.

Last month, the Lee County Board of Commissioners retained a Raleigh law firm that specializes in environmental cases to advise the county on how to address the issue.

"We've prayed about it," said 86-year-old Nora McNeill, who has lived in the area her entire life. "We just have to pray for the best."

Her husband, J.D. McNeill, worked for 44 years in the neighborhood brick plant. He's now 87.

"I wish they wouldn't do it. But they're going to do what they want to do," said J.D. McNeill, while taking a break from oxygen treatment for emphysema. "There ain't too many houses here in the community. And if they go to putting it here, who would want to buy a house here?"

Duke has contracted the coal ash firm Charah Inc. to be in charge of excavation and hauling the ash from its Sutton plants in Wilmington and the Riverbend Steam Station in Mount Holly, outside Charlotte. Green Meadow, one of its limited liability companies, owns the abandoned mines once used by the brick industry in this part of the state.

On Nov. 13, it was first reported that Green Meadow had bought the mines from General Shale Brick Co.

General Shale was formerly Cherokee Sanford Brick Co., at one time the state's largest brick maker. The Colon facility went through several name changes, but local residents typically refer to it as Sanford Brick and Tile.

"They're going to dump that stuff right out there," said Dean Tipton, 78. "Corporate America is a strong organization. And Duke is part of it. Money and corporate America can buy about anything they want. And the working class and blue-collar America has their hands tied."

Tipton lives with his wife, Johnsie, in her 1890s-era family home just a short walk from the plant's former brickyard.

"I feel sorry for this community," he said. "They don't deserve it. They're just going to put it in this little hideaway."

Other storage sites

Duke Energy also plans to store coal ash at a similar waste site at the old Brickhaven mine near Moncure in Chatham County. In December, Chatham County commissioners passed a resolution opposing Duke's plan.

Sanford and Moncure are among four locations in the state where Duke Energy aims to deposit coal ash as part of a plan to close four other coal sites. State regulators want the power company to permanently close coal ash ponds at electric plants in Wilmington, Asheville, Eden and Mount Holly.

"This is a very industry-tested, safe application of how to dispose of this material," said Jeff Brooks, a spokesman for Duke Energy.

He noted that coal ash is used in a variety of applications across the nation, including structural fills at airports and for concrete and structural fills for roads and bridges.

Therese Vick, a Raleigh-based community organizer for Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said the Environmental Protection Agency acknowledges that all landfills will eventually leak.

"It's not a matter of 'if' it will leak; it's a matter of 'when,' " she said. "This coal ash is going to be in Lee and Chatham counties forever."

Blue Ridge has been working on landfill issues for nearly 30 years. The organization became concerned about the coal ash issue once it started working with landfill communities after a large Dan River spill on Feb. 2, she said. Nearly 40,000 tons of coal ash reportedly spilled into the river from the company's facilities in Eden, coating about 70 miles of water in gray sludge.

The spill prompted an investigation by the state of all the company's coal ash pond dams.

On Monday, the Lee County commissioners passed a resolution by a 6-1 vote opposing the plan to use open-pit clay mines to store coal ash. The resolution states that the disposal plan would create environmental risk and cause economic hardship in the county.

In terms of its toxicity, the EPA has deemed coal ash nonhazardous, but it has never said it is not harmful, Vick said.

John Crumpton is the Lee County manager.

"I think the general feeling of the board, and all the members of the board -- nobody here was made aware of (Duke's) plans until the plans were set in stone," he said.

"In this age where government is supposed to be about collaboration, inclusiveness, this was not inclusive," Crumpton said.

Brooks said Duke Energy cares about the local governments that it serves and has been in discussions with Lee County.

EnvironmentaLee, a grass-roots environmental organization and chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, has scheduled an anti-coal ash community meeting for 7 p.m. Monday at the Sanford Civitan Club, 517 Golf Course Road.

Representatives of EnvironmentaLee could not be reached Wednesday, but the organization's "intent is to protect the health, safety and welfare of citizens and the environment of Lee County," its website states.

Duke's plan

Once Duke Energy receives any necessary permits, the initial phase of the process will take about 12 months to complete, said Brooks. The first phase will remove about 30 percent of the total ash stored at the company's four priority sites. Options are being considered for disposal of the additional coal ash.

Duke Energy has five years to remove ash from the sites. By law, the Charlotte-based company must remove or cap its remaining dumps by 2029.

A Coal Ash Management Commission has been established to oversee the process.

Brooks said about 2million tons of coal ash from the Sutton site would be taken to the Sanford mine and the Brickhaven mine in nearby Moncure. Approximately 90 percent of about 1 million tons of coal ash from Riverbend also will be buried at those locations, Brooks said.

Both will be transported by rail, he said.

"These are very viable, safe technologies," he said. "Duke Energy will ensure the projects are conducted safely and with focus on protecting the environment."

But Duke Energy's record speaks for itself, Vick said.

Disposal process

Here's how Charah would dispose of the ash, as described by Brooks:

The utility plans to use the abandoned clay mines "that otherwise are open holes in the ground. They'll be required to be lined properly with multiple layers of lining as well as extensive groundwater monitoring around the mines. By monitoring the wells all around the mine, we'll be able to monitor any changes to the groundwater. With the lining in the mines, these applications are very safe and environmentally friendly."

Richard Hearn, 64, the owner of Central Carolina Truck Lube in Colon, asks: "If it's not a contaminant, why does it have to be moved?"

"The coal ash -- I don't know what benefit it is to Lee County," he said.

Hearn's truck business was founded in 1957, initially hauling brick for Sanford Brick and Tile. He has lived in the community ever since. Hearn said he owns a little over 200 acres in the Colon area.

"I'm getting ready to take a hit. I'm getting ready to take a loss," he said. "Once they catch wind of what's going on here, I can't sell my land. Man, we don't stand to gain nothing. The homes right here on it -- they're going to take a beating. The people here are not wealthy. They're not going to be able to put up a fight."

Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at futchm@fayobserver.com or 486-3529.

www.fayobserver.com

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