RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The federal, North Carolina and Virginia governments want a judge to declare the country’s largest electricity company liable for environmental damage from a leak five years ago that left miles of a river shared by the two states coated in hazardous coal ash.
Government lawyers on Thursday sought to have Charlotte-based Duke Energy declared responsible for harming fish, birds, amphibians and the bottom of the Dan River. Lawyers say high levels of hazardous substances like arsenic and selenium poured into the river.
A settlement also filed with the court for public review indicates the restoration work is close to wrapping up.
The leak of waste Duke Energy stored after burning coal for power coated about 70 miles of the river from a power plant near Eden, renewing national attention on the risks posed by similar storage pits across the country.
Duke Energy pleaded guilty to federal environmental crimes in 2015 and agreed to pay $102 million. The company said three years of testing through 2017 found no long-term effects to the river’s environment.
Charlotte-based Duke Energy has 7.6 million electricity customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.