Duke Energy to remove coal ash from Buck Steam Station

RALEIGH, N.C. — (AP) — Duke Energy will remove coal ash from a power plant in North Carolina and recycle it.

The utility issued a news release Wednesday saying it will use the material from the three pits at the Buck Steam Station to make concrete. Coal ash is the residue after coal is burned for electricity.

The Southern Environmental Law Center said the removal of the coal ash is the result of a settlement agreement struck last week in a federal lawsuit that was filed in 2014. They say the pits at the site are unlined and leaking.

The settlement says any material that's not recycled will be taken to a lined landfill elsewhere.

North Carolina officials have also been pursuing stronger regulations and enforcement of coal ash after a 2014 spill.

Associated Press