This news item expired on Friday, January 10, 2020 so the information below could be outdated or incorrect.
From NCDENR:
RALEIGH – State officials will host a public hearing Dec. 19 in Asheville to gather comments on a draft permit to construct and operate an industrial landfill at the Duke Energy Progress Asheville Steam Electric Plant. Public comments will be accepted through Friday, Jan. 10, 2020.
Duke Energy Progress submitted a new permit application on June 17, 2019, to construct an onsite industrial landfill at the Asheville facility to hold coal ash removed from the onsite ash ponds. Under the draft solid waste permit, other wastes generated onsite would also be eligible for disposal in the landfill. The application requests approval to construct the 12.5-acre landfill and to operate it once the facility is constructed and approved by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Solid Waste Section.
The Division of Waste Management has determined that the application satisfied the requirements of North Carolina Administrative Code 15A NCAC 13B .0503 through .0505. A draft permit has been prepared for public review.
What: Public Hearing on Draft Landfill Permit at the Asheville Steam Electric Plant
When: 6 p.m., Thursday, December 19, 2019 (Speaker sign up begins at 5:30 p.m.)
Where: Asheville-Buncombe’s Technical College’s Conference Center Room B, 340 Victoria Road, Asheville, North Carolina.
The draft solid waste permit seeks to ensure that coal ash is stored in a double-lined landfill away from surface water. The draft solid waste permit calls for the industrial landfill to be constructed with a system for collecting wastewater and requires routine monitoring to ensure the landfill is being properly maintained.
Gathering input at the hearing and during the comment period is an important part of the public process. North Carolina General Statute 130A-309.203, “Coal Ash Management Act of 2014,” requires that the public be given a 60-day period to comment on this draft permit. Comments will be considered before a decision is made on the permit. Written comments on the solid waste permit may be submitted to: Ed Mussler, N.C. Division of Waste Management, Solid Waste Section, 1646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1646 or by email to publiccomments@ncdenr.gov.
Information about the solid waste permit, including the permit application, can be found on the state environmental agency’s website here.