Following a rigorous application review and lengthy public comment period, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has issued a permit to allow Duke Energy Progress to construct a new onsite, lined landfill to dispose of coal ash at the Asheville Steam Electric Plant in Asheville.
The permit, issued Monday, allows Duke Energy to move forward with plans to construct and operate a lined industrial landfill to store coal ash now contained in an unlined impoundment on the same property. The issuance of the permit aligns with the designation of the Asheville Steam Plant as high priority by the Coal Ash Management Act of 2014. This designation mandated full excavation of the onsite coal ash impoundments.
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 impoundments. Under the solid waste permit, other wastes generated onsite will be eligible for disposal in the landfill. The application requested approval to operate the 12.5-acre landfill once the facility is constructed and approved by the Department of Environmental Quality’s Solid Waste Section.
In addition to the protective liner, the landfill will be constructed with a system to collect wastewater. Duke Energy also will be required to conduct regular environmental monitoring of water quality around the landfill and correct any problems if they are identified.
A copy of the permit to construct and operate the landfill can be found at: https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WasteManagement/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=1360595&dbid=0&repo=WasteManagement. The permit approval letter is at: https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WasteManagement/ElectronicFile.aspx?docid=1389250&dbid=0&repo=WasteManagement