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LEGAL NEWSLINE

Friday, March 29, 2024

Groups claim Duke Energy Carolinas plant is polluting creeks, other water sources

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GREENSBORO, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – Citizen conservation groups allege that a coal-fired electricity generating plant in Stokes County, North Carolina is unlawfully leaking toxic metals and other pollutants.

Appalachian Voices, North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and the Stokes County Branch of the NAACP filed a complaint on Dec. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina against Duke Energy Carolinas LLC alleging violation of the Clean Water Act.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the defendant's Belews Creek Steam Station plant is dumping coal ash pollution into waters without a Clean Water Act permit authorization and in violation of its existing permit. The plaintiffs allege that the Dan River, Belews Lake, Little Belews Creek and other tributaries and groundwater are being polluted.

The plaintiffs holds Duke Energy Carolinas LLC responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to properly operate and maintain its coal ash wastewater treatment basin at Belews Creek by storing coal ash in the groundwater and by operating a wastewater treatment facility that leaks into ground and surface waters.

The plaintiffs seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, assess civil penalties of up to $37,500 per violations per day for each violation, award of costs, attorney fees, and such further and additional relief as the court deems just and proper. They are represented by Frank S. Holleman III, Myra Blake, Nicholas S. Torrey and Leslie Griffith of Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina case number 1:17-CV-1097

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