"Questions as More Wastewater Flows in North Carolina"

"Duke Energy, the giant utility whose spill of toxic waste into a North Carolina river last month is under federal investigation, released wastewater last week from a second site upriver of Raleigh that state regulators said could be illegal.

Aerial photographs of two Duke coal ash ponds at the head of the Cape Fear River show portable pumps and hoses that appear to be siphoning water into a canal leading to the river.

A spokesman for the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources said on Saturday that its inspectors noticed the pumping while on a site visit last week. 'We are investigating the utility’s actions,' the spokesman, Drew Elliot, said in an email. 'While routine maintenance is allowed under the permit, discharge of untreated wastewater could be a violation.'"

Trip Gabriel reports for the New York Times March 15, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"After North Carolina Spill, Coal Ash Ponds Face Extinction" (Reuters)

"DENR Rejects Duke's Coal Ash Plan, Amid Accusations of Leniency" (Raleigh News & Observer)

"Coal Ash Spill Cleanup Will Take 2 Years, Duke Energy Says" (AP)

"Details scant on plan to put coal ash at Charlotte Douglas" (Charlotte Observer)

"Duke Energy Accused of Mishandling More Coal Ash Wastewater" (Los Angeles Times)

"OMB Tries To Water Down EPA Controls on Coal Ash Wastewater Pollution " (SEJ/EJToday Headlines)

"Pricey Harrison, N.C. Democrats To Push Bill To Move All Coal Ash" (Associated Press)