CHARLOTTE — Duke Energy is facing a new lawsuit that accuses the power company of exposing thousands of locals to harmful toxins.
Environmental groups announced the lawsuit on Wednesday, saying that Duke Energy should have done more about its coal ash disposal.
Channel 9 reported earlier this year when a sinkhole in Mooresville opened up, revealing a truth just under the surface: much of the Mooresville area is built on top of coal ash that came from Duke Energy’s power plants.
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“They could have done better, they knew how to do it, but they were just cheap,” said Carlos Moore of the Carlos Moore Law Group.
Moore says the ash is responsible for a cancer cluster in Mooresville and Sherrills Ford. Their client, Tanya Hall, is a kidney cancer survivor.
“There used to be ash on my car in the morning in my community; I never really understood it, and it was just kind of a known thing,” Hall said.
In the 1990s and the early 2000s, it was common to use the residue as dirt to fill in sites for construction.
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The material comes from burning coal and can contain traces of lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals that the Environmental Protection Agency say are toxic to human health and linked to cancer.
Iredell County has more coal ash fill material than anywhere in the state.
“The studies show that the cancer rates in Mooresville, Sherrills Ford ... they greatly exceeded what’s expected in North Carolina in general, and across the United States,” Moore told Channel 9 Climate Reporter Michelle Alfini.
Duke Energy disagrees that there’s a causal connection between coal ash and cancer, saying they’ve not seen conclusive scientific research. Duke also points out the company is in compliance with all state laws regarding coal ash disposal.
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The company is currently cleaning up thousands of tons of ash at its power plant sites.
We’ll keep an eye on the lawsuit’s progress.
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