EDEN — On the outskirts of town, stretched along the Dan River, sit two of the most potentially hazardous ponds in the country.
They store coal ash from Duke Energy’s Dan River power plant, and this week they made the Environmental Protection Agency list of 44 “high hazard potential” ash sites across the country.
The release of the list comes after a massive spill in December at an ash pond in the mountains of Tennessee sent a wave of sludge across nearby properties, including 40 houses.
While the ponds’ proximity to Eden has led to discussions about emergency plans, city officials say they are comfortable with the presence of the storage site and its place on the list.
“I don’t think it hurts us,” Mayor John Grogan said. “We ... feel very comfortable with the relationships that we have with Duke Energy.”
The list isn’t based on the condition of the ponds or probability of a failure, according to the EPA. Instead, it reflects ponds where a spill would cause the most problems.
A high hazard potential rating “indicates that a failure will probably cause loss of human life,” according to the agency. The 44 classified that way represent about a 10th of the 400-plus coal storage ponds across the country.
Grogan said Eden officials, including the police and fire departments, recently met with Duke officials to discuss the operation, and he is satisfied with the handling of the ponds.
Even so, he admits that the ponds crossed his mind when he heard about the spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority plant, where a dam burst and released some 5 million cubic yards of ash and sludge.
“If you have something happen like what happened at the TVA, Lord have mercy,” Grogan said.
The ponds are holding sites for the ash that results when coal is burned for the operation of coal-fired power plants. The ash sinks to the bottom of the pond, said Jason Walls, a Duke spokesman. When the ponds fill up, the waste is removed and taken to a landfill or reused.
With about a half-mile of woods and fields separating her from the ponds, Anna Martin has a close vantage point of the plant’s operations.
She recently moved to that part of town and said the ponds haven’t been a big concern.
“So far, it’s OK,” she said. “It’s quiet, nice, clean. It’s pretty.”
The Eden ponds aren’t the only North Carolina coal storage ponds on the EPA list and, covering about 8 acres combined, they’re far from the largest. Other storage sites include ponds at the Belews Creek coal plant in Stokes County and in several other counties.
The ponds hold a stew of waste products, including toxic metals such as arsenic, selenium, cadmium, lead and mercury, though generally at low concentrations.
Walls said the utility takes the safety of the ponds seriously, with annual inspections and monthly walkarounds.
“We’re confident in the structural integrity ... to protect the public and the environment,” he said.
The issue has attracted attention in the months since the East Tennessee spill.
State Rep. Pricey Harrison a bill earlier this year to closely regulate the storage of coal ash, but so far the measure hasn’t cleared the General Assembly.
Utilities must file reports done by private engineers every five years with the state Public Utilities Commission. A 2007 report on the Dan River plant found that voluntary but recommended annual inspections had not been done in recent years.
It also identified “a potentially serious seepage issue” that a later report said had been addressed.
Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or at jason.hardin@news-record.com
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Bicycle recycling project that promotes bicycling as a means of alternative transportation, a healthy lifestyle choice and a way to build community.
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