Duke Energy Offers Compensation to Neighbors Living Near Coal Ash Pits

BELMONT, NC – Duke Energy is making a new offer to people living near coal ash pits.

Neighbors near Allen Steam Station in Belmont will have the option to take what the company is calling a $5,000 “goodwill offer.”

“Absolutely ridiculous. It’s an insult,” says neighbor Amy Brown, “It’s ridiculous to think that $5,000 even begins to cover what we’ve been through.”

In 2015, state regulators told Brown and her neighbors their well water wasn’t safe to drink, then reversed course.

For the past 21 months they’ve lived off bottled water provided by Duke.

Brown says she’s skeptical of Duke’s offer because it would require neighbors to sign paperwork agreeing not to sue the company.

“Who knows what could happen tomorrow, next month, a year from now,” she says.

Officials with Duke Energy say they’re making the $5,000 offer despite maintaining there are no issues with the well water.

“It’s really important to us that our neighbors have certainty. And are confident in their water supply,” explains Erin Culbert, spokesperson for Duke Energy.

“These are naturally occurring substances in their wells that are not connected to coal ash,” Culbert says.

State law will also require Duke to help with a transition to public water for neighbors in Belmont.

The company will pay 25 years worth of water bills for neighbors living within a half mile of the steam station.

If they sell their homes, Duke will have to make up the difference if the seller can’t get fair market value.

Brown says it’s still not a good deal because the law would allow Duke to cap the coal ash pits and leave them in place.

She and other neighbors say they’ve hired a lawyer to represent them.

Neighbors will have until April to decide if they want to take the $5,000 offer.