Facilities and Permits
Coal Ash Facilities in North Carolina
- Allen Steam Station
- Asheville Power Station
- Belews Creek Steam Station
- Brickhaven Mine
- Buck Steam Station
- Cape Fear Power Station
- Colon Mine Site
- Cliffside Steam Station / Rogers Energy Complex
- Dan River Steam Station
- H.F. Lee Power Station
- Marshall Steam Station
- Mayo Power Station
- Riverbend Steam Station
- Roxboro Power Station
- Sutton Power Station
- Weatherspoon Steam Electric Plant
NPDES Permits
- Duke Energy NPDES Permitting 2015
- NPDES permits for all electrical generating facilities that have coal ash ponds can be found here.
What is in coal ash and the wastewater discharge?
- During the last five years the following parameters have been monitored by the Dan River facility in association with their federal discharge permit: Arsenic, Selenium, Copper, Iron, Sulfate, temperature, pH, Total Suspended Solids, oil and grease and nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus. They have also been required to perform Whole Effluent Toxicity testing – a test that uses the entire waste stream at different concentrations to evaluate its effect on aquatic life.
- The wastewater is analyzed, in accordance with EPA guidance, for its potential to be noncompliant with state water quality standards. The analysis of data indicates that the concentration of the compounds monitored at the Dan River facility is significantly lower than what is allowed by EPA. The Dan River facility has also consistently passed all quarterly Whole Effluent Toxicity tests.
- Ash has a large variety of constituents, it is mostly consists of silicon oxide, iron oxide, and aluminum oxide. But it also has trace amounts of arsenic, selenium, mercury, boron, thallium, cadmium, chlorides, bromine, magnesium, chromium, copper nickel, and other metals.
- The ash composition varies widely depending on the coal type and origin, burning regime, air pollution control equipment, etc.
- Solid Waste Section Factsheet about Coal Ash (revised January 24, 2017)