Officials: Sutton Lake study demands action

NEW HANOVER COUNTY -- A Duke University scientist says a toxic stew of coal ash spilled repeatedly from storage pits at Duke Energy's Sutton power plant north of Wilmington and into the adjoining Sutton Lake, and the dam collapse during Hurricane Florence was only the latest failure of the plant's storage system.

Duke geochemistry and water quality professor Avner Vengosh said in the research he published last month, amounts of lead, cobalt and other heavy metals were detected in the lake's sediment that exceeded or equaled the pollution from the country's worst coal-ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee, in 2008.

These peer-reviewed findings have launched two local representatives into action, but have agitated Duke Energy Progress officials who claim the results are, "nothing new and not at all surprising."

Not 'old news'

Tuesday morning state Sen. Harper Peterson and state Rep. Deb Butler, both New Hanover County Democrats, shared the findings in a press conference standing on the Sutton Lake fishing pier. Armed with a map of the man-made lake, Butler and Peterson explained the crisis and announced a seven-step action plan.

"It's not OK to say this contamination is, quote, 'old news' " Butler said. "That's insulting to me. People are on this lake right now catching fish that I believe have high metal content and they are going to be eating that. We need to hold (Duke Energy's) feet to the fire. We need to warn the public."

Of the seven suggestions in the action plan, one is to place signage at the lake's fishing pier and boat ramp communicating the presence of coal ash and the potential health and safety risk to the public.

Other steps included further analysis and studies of Vengosh's findings; asking the local health department to temporarily restrict public access to the lake until it is given a clean bill of health; requesting all internal Duke documents into their storage procedures and unintended spills; and asking the U.S. Justice Department to determine whether Duke violated the federal Clean Water Act.

Did what designed to do

Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said Tuesday that it was "ludicrous" to compare a decades-old ash at the bottom of a man-made wastewater facility to anything found in conventional lakes and rivers.

"This wastewater facility did exactly what it was designed to do, serve as a buffer between our former coal plant and the Cape Fear River to keep the public and environment safe," she said in a release.

Duke replaced the old coal-fired plant at Sutton in 2013 with a clean-burning natural gas plant, and is in the process of relocating coal ash from unlined storage pits to a lined landfill on the property and to an old clay mine in Chatham County.

Sheehan added that Duke has shared similar sediment results going back to the mid-1990s with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, so the findings are not new and not at all surprising.

She also said the results are not relevant to human health. After decades of surface water tests and fish tests, all shared with regulators, Sheehan said the tests demonstrate the water quality is, "well within water quality standards and the Sutton fishery is healthy and thriving."

Raising awareness

Peterson said this action plan is just the beginning and he hopes local scientists will weigh in.

A public meeting will take place in Raleigh next Tuesday where Vengosh's findings will be presented to state officials.

Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette said these initial findings point to the great need for more studies into exactly how much coal ash is in the lake and adjacent Cape Fear River.

"The coal ash seems to be throughout the lake and at the very least, people should be aware if they are catching fish they could be filled with arsenic," he said.

 Reporter Ashley Morris can be reached at 910-343-2096 or Ashley.Morris@StarNewsOnline.com.