2023 UPDATE
Duke withdrew its flawed plan to close the North Ash Pond and Primary Pond Ash Fill — containing about 3 million tons of coal ash — in place, even though the lower twenty feet or more of the ash is sitting in groundwater. Duke’s action came in response to a legal challenge by HEC and a compliance letter sent by U.S. EPA objecting to Duke’s closure in place plan.
For the Primary Pond, located between the North Pond and Primary Pond Ash Fill, Duke is proposing to build an underground “slurry wall” intended to keep the contaminated groundwater underneath the primary pond from moving away from the primary pond footprint. The Primary Pond contains over 481,000 tons of coal ash.
HEC and other organizations are demanding that Duke clean up these polluting coal ash ponds by excavating the ash, recycling as much as possible, and moving the remainder to a lined, modern landfill out of the river’s floodplain.
This is exactly the course that Duke Energy is taking for its leaking coal ash ponds in North Carolina. Hoosiers should be entitled to the same level of protection as the people of North Carolina.
Gallagher Ash Ponds Fact Sheet