from environmental activists, these are flooded hog and chicken farms. in previous floods, north carolina s farms have posed an environmental hazard all their own with dead animals and animal waste released into the water. this team the water keepers are keeping a close eye on dumps of toxic coal ash at the state s power plants. these coal ash ponds are due to be closed up by 2028. some of them are right next to the neuse river, which is rising. they do not expecting them to spread enough of the toxic silt. workers and state officials have been inspecting the dams that keep the coal ash in place. they say they don t see flooding as an imminent threat. water keepers see it
own with dead animals and animal waste released into the water. this team the water keepers are keeping a close eye on dumps of toxic coal ash at the state s power plants. these coal ash ponds are due to be closed up by 2028. some of them are right next to the neuse river, which is rising. they do not expecting them to spread enough of the toxic silt. workers and state officials have been inspecting the dams that keep the coal ash in place. they say they don t see flooding as an imminent threat. water keepers see it differently. if the water rises over those ash bond pond dams, there is concern that it will mix with the river water and be carried further downstream. the concern is that the
the plant doesn t even need to be in operation, but you need some place to keep the coal ash that s left behind and that s the coal ash you re stuck with as a result of having burned all that coal. so coal ash ponds dot the landscape across the country. coal ash now blankets some 70 miles of the dan river. on wednesday the governor of north carolina announced a plan to close all 33 of duke energy s coal ash ponds in the state or convert them into landfills. it s not clear how he s going to do it, but he says he has a plan. and because the governor and his administration have been under fire for oversight that allowed that massive coal ash spill to happen in the first place, he also announced that his plan would try to end loopholes and tightened regulations. it s also huge news this week about another nasty by-product of burning coal. one that s harder to see, greenhouse gases. the united states came out with its report on climate change this week saying we have seen the largest increa
issuing subpoenas to make sure there s no criminal wrongdoing in collusion between duke energy and the state regulator. right. the u.s. attorney s office has conducted a grand jury investigation which began last week, and separately the epa is coming down to enforce the the it s in charge of regulating. we re going to come in and issuing subpoenas to make sure there s no criminal wrongdoing in collusion between duke energy and the state regulator. right. the u.s. attorney s office has conducted a grand jury investigation which began last week, and separately the epa is coming down to enforce the prevention of pollution of our waterways. it s just this problem has been a real problem for our state forever. we ve got more coal ash ponds than any other state. we ve got more hazard dams. we know it s full of toxins and contaminants and known carcinogens. it s been very problematic to me to watch our lack of regulation continue when we know we have this huge problem. and duke understo
so there s now some kind of state inspection regulation? yes, on the dams. then started to employ its mandate of protecting the groundwater through the clean water act implementation and they started off, i guess after the kingston bill they started to do better monitoring and enforcement. there weren t any real regulations, specifically, to the coal ash ponds. given the governor s relationship with duke energy, i mean, do citizens of north carolina, can they trust that everything is on the up and up in terms of the state being the regulator of this massive company the governor used to work for? well, that s a big problem. he s been quite cozy with the industry and the department has made it very clear that their customers are a regulated industry and not the public who have a right to clean air and clean water. so i think there s a great deal of skepticism which is why some folks are very happy that the epa s down here trying to help enforce the cleanup. yeah. explain to me th