State investigates leaking pipe connected to Duke steam plant in Belmont

BELMONT, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality said there is a minor drainage leak at the Allen Steam Station in Belmont that is coming from a 24-inch corrugated metal pipe along the Catawba River bank.

The leak, which was discovered by Duke Energy, is about 0.3L/minute and was discovered at the abandoned discharge from the retired ash basin's original water, DEQ officials said.

The leak amounts to about a coffee cup full of water per minute.

The riser was plugged with concrete in 1966 and since then, it has been closed.

The draining water meets surface water quality standards and contains elevated levels of boron that are consistent with groundwater samples at Allen, but there is no state surface water standard for boron. Boron is an indicator of potential effects from coal ash.

Catawba Riverkeeper Sam Perkins said he discovered the pipe and notified Duke.

"It was shocking to me and I am often not shocked anymore," Perkins said.

Duke Energy said the pipe was not included in inspections of ash basin structures in 2014.

A spokesperson said the pipe is not on the historic ash basin drawings that were used in that assessment.

Perkins said the seepage is concerning but the lack of inspection concerns him more.

"The corrugated pipe has not been inspected, or monitored with the thoroughness that we were assured they would have after the disaster in the Dan River," Perkins said. "That's why we have litigation trying to clean up the source of the contamination so an event like Dan River doesn't happen on Lake Wylie.”

Perkins compared the discovery to the pipe that caused the Dan River coal ash spill in 2014.

Perkins says the difference is if this pipe blows, more people will be affected.

"The coal ash this pipe connects to is 43 feet below the water table," Perkins said. "About 100,000 people down the stream from Rock Hill and York County drink the water so there is a lot of concern for a blowout like the Dan River."

Belmont resident Amy Brown has been living on bottled water provided by Duke Energy. She said the discovery concerns her.

"You can't downplay a toxic place by only saying it was the amount of a coffee cup an hour," Brown said. "Anything that is leaking that can cause cancer and sickness can be a hazard to anyone's health in our environment."

Duke Energy said this situation doesn't compare to what happened on the Dan River.

The DEQ plans to grout the end of the pipe to stop the leak.

Duke Energy is also doing additional work to seal the metal pipe at the basin.

Duke Energy hired an outside firm to this year and found that after two checks, there was no release of water.

This pipe was not included in inspections of ash basin structures in 2014.

Cox Media Group