"Lawyer Hired By NC in Spill Probe Represented Duke"

"RALEIGH, N.C. -- The lawyer hired to represent North Carolina's environmental agency during a federal investigation into its regulation of Duke Energy's coal ash dumps once represented the utility company in a different criminal probe.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources has hired Mark T. Calloway of Charlotte to help respond to 20 grand jury subpoenas the agency and its employees have received after the Feb. 2 spill at Duke's Eden plant, which coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic sludge. Duke has been issued at least two subpoenas as part of that investigation.

The state regulatory agency has issued notice of eight environmental violations against Duke in the last month arising from the Eden spill and issues at the utility's other coal-fired plants, including the recent dumping of 61 million gallons of contaminated water into the Cape Fear River."

Michael Biesecker and Mitch Weiss report for the Associated Press March 24, 2014.