Coal Ash Remains Near Duke Energy Plants, as Other Ash is Imported from Overseas

BELMONT, NC – New frustration tonight from neighbors living near Duke Energy coal ash pits.

Concrete companies continue to import tons of ash from overseas – all while coal ash sits in the ground here.

“Why are we bringing in more ash when we need to deal with our own ash?” asks Belmont resident Amy Brown.

She’s used bottled water for more than two years now, because of health concerns from coal ash pits next door at the Allen Steam Station.

But Tuesday, a deal was approved to import 150,000 tons of ash from India into North Carolina.

Concrete companies want it, but say Duke Energy won’t sell what’s already here.

“Why wouldn’t you want to get rid of it? It’s sitting in unlined pits anyway and we already know what kind of issues that’s causing,” Brown says.

Concrete companies say when coal ash is reprocessed into fly ash, it can be used to make concrete more durable and safe.

The Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association tells WCCB Charlotte North Carolina concrete makers needed about 959,000 tons of ash last year, but couldn’t find it.

Duke Energy recycled 35 percent of mostly new ash last year, but as for what’s stored in the pits a spokesperson tells WCCB Charlotte, “There are many factors to balance, such as the level of processing needed and transportation distance to market.”

But Catawba Riverkeeper Sam Perkins tells WCCB Charlotte that’s a poor excuse.

“There is still too much unmet demand that Duke can and should be meeting,” Perkins says.

He says while there are costs involved with converting coal ash into fly ash, others have made it work.

“It is something that is being done in South Carolina, and it is something that the largest utility in the nation can certainly take on as well,” Perkins says.