"DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina officials say they have hit Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric utility, with the largest environmental fine in state history.

The $25.1 million penalty, announced Tuesday by the State Department of Environment and Natural Resources, addresses the contamination of groundwater by coal ash from a single facility — the company’s Sutton Plant near Wilmington, N.C.

Federal prosecutors are pursuing a separate, much larger action against the company stemming from its spill of millions of gallons of toxic coal ash from a plant on the Dan River, near the Virginia border. The company said in an earnings statement that it expected to pay about $100 million in that action, which was expanded to concern Duke Energy plants across the state."

Jonathan M. Katz reports for the New York Times March 10, 2015. [2]