Duke Energy caught dumping MILLIONS of gallons of coal waste into North Carolina water

reply to post by jaynkeel


I agree. It's tragic how little is done in situations like this by the higher ups. No one seems to care what it's doing to us. I can almost guarantee that Duke employees are not drinking the water.

reply to post by jacktorrance


Take a look at this also.

Subsistence and sports fishermen who eat their catch can be at a particularly high risk of mercury poisoning if they fish regularly in contaminated waters. Across the United States, mercury pollution has contaminated 18 million acres of lakes, estuaries, and wetlands (43 percent of the total), and 1.4 million river miles. From 2006 to 2008, the number of lake acres under advisory increased by 18 percent, and the number of river miles increased by 52 percent. And many waterways have not even been tested. In 2008, all 50 states issued fish consumption advisories, warning citizens to limit how often they eat certain types of fish caught in the state's waters because they are contaminated with mercury.

I looked into this after finding out that the Wabash river has high levels of mercury, some fish are okay to eat a few times per month, but some, especially at larger sizes, aren't safe to eat at all.

The source of the Mercury comes from coal burning plants which release mercury into the air and contaminate the water used to cool them, with mercury also. Now they're just plain dumping coal waste directly into the water???

I'd hate to see how toxic our environment will be 40 years from now, if these things continue to be left unchecked or punished with a simple slap on the wrist..

reply to post by signalfire

So how come poisoning the water supply isn't terrorism? Hey NSA and FBI, I'd really like to know!

If I, wearing a suitable bit of towel-like headgear, were seen dumping something or other into the local water reservoir, I'd be the focus of a nationwide manhunt, complete with tanks, riot geared police and SWAT teams.

How is this not terrorism, for real?

People of the locale where this occurred, please look at it in the proper perspective.

THESE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU.

Completely agree. Unfortunately, I haven't found the outrage anywhere besides ATS. This is dangerous, illegal, and honestly immoral, yet they will likely continue doing what they're doing and pay a minimal fine. At least a civil group has been formed and they are planning a lawsuit.. I just don't know how far it will get them.

reply to post by kx12x


Thank you for that link.

You know what stood out to me in that article? This...

The bulk of this mercury pollution could be eliminated with the installation of relatively simple and widely-available pollution-control devices. Similar devices have proved very successful on municipal incinerators, which were once a significant source of mercury pollution.

Simple and widely available resources exist to eliminate part of this mercury output...yet businesses are still ignoring it.

I have become wary of fish in restaurants and from the store, mainly due to the BP spill. I'm concerned with what I might be ingesting and believe me, no one at the grocery store or restaurants can tell you where the fish was caught.

Honestly, that article shed more light on the ongoing pollution than any other that I've read. While I understand everyone's concern over Fukushima, it's clear that we don't have to look that far for pollution of our food and water.

.....and they'll get a slap on the wrist and be told not to do this kind of thing in plain sight. Anyone negatively affected by their actions will get a couple wads of cash thrown their way to shut up, and the practices will continue.

Does anyone think these people care about the community? They don't.

They don't give a damn if people get sick or even die, as long as they're saving a couple bucks.

When you have a government that shows little compassion for it's citizens, the same ideals/beliefs will trickle down to every level of society.

ThePublicEnemyNo1
reply to post by jacktorrance

 

I'll tell you what you do.

Take some of that dirty, toxic, polluted waste water put it in a few 5 gallon containers (one for each of Dukes officers) and every time they step out of their front door or back out of their garage...Throw it at em'!

This kind of crap is ridiculous, illegal, immoral, not right, senseless, disrepectful, life threatening and infuriating 😡

edit on 3/21/14 by ThePublicEnemyNo1 because: (no reason given)

Better still, make sure that the water downstream is processed and use to make lunches, and placed in bottles at all their meetings.

Not to be a total bummer, but it's a drop in the poisonous bucket. Yes, they should all be forced to live in the environs they pollute, or worse, but the damage has been, and continues to be, done... all over the world. But why are we even still digging and burning coal?

All projections (and common sense) show a completely collapsing eco system in decades... or faster. We've made some noise, cleaned some places in the first world and passed some lax laws, but it's far too little, too late.

We're still making exponentially more humans and more countries want to be industrialized.

How many more articles will we have to read about: disappearing forests, ozone holes, polluted drinking water, droughts, floods, mass animal die-offs, immense garbage gyres in the oceans, melting ice caps, severe weather, cancer outbreaks, autism outbreaks, radiation contamination, etc., etc. before some serious action is taken?

There is still argument over this environmental stuff and one side of American politics even denies it's a problem and thinks that the science and attached math is a lie. It's dire and I don't see enough being done about it. It's been a trendy "cause" since the 60's, but is now largely passed off as "environmental whacko" over-reaction.

The facts are that the depressing predictions made by scientists about the failing of the intricate systems that keeps us alive on Earth are happening faster than anyone thought. We cannot, it seems, be bothered to save our own lives (never mind every other living thing) because it is too costly.

What's wrong with us? Seriously?

The EPA is too busy going after homeowners to bother with Duke Energy. I mean, the world is coming to an end because someone made a pond in their back yard. The environment is also going to collapse because someone wants to build on their property the EPA claimed was marshland or something. Duke Energy is small potatoes!

/end sarcasm

reply to post by EternalSolace


you are aware that Duke Energy has a lot of political weight right?
so like; the EPA would be hesitant to do anything about their violations, for fear of reprisals in some way (getting funding or programs cut by vengeful congressmen, or being demonized by the corporatist right-wing for being "liberal" or "anti-business" or "filthy tree-huggin hippies".

Snarl
reply to post by jacktorrance

 

Fair should be fair in this case. A fine is not gonna cut it.

Duke energy should not be allowed to collect any revenue until they've conducted a thorough clean-up and pay for any damage up-front.

Why aren't there Ever any penalties like this?

i suspect because the company lines the pockets of those make the rules

reply to post by hopenotfeariswhatweneed


or those that are usually charged with seeing that these things are enforced.

Like the governors/state government of North Carolina in this case.

reply to post by NonsensicalUserName


Doesn't really surprise me in the least bit. The point of my post was to suggest that the EPA needs to back off the everyday citizen and return their attention to things the agency was originally intended for.

If those in charge of the EPA are afraid to do their jobs for fear of reprisal, or the agency is rendered helpless because of political affiliations, it's time they get booted out of office or it's time to disband the EPA and replace it with something that functions as intended. The EPA is much more powerful than it needs to be anyway.

I'm personally not a fan of any entity that attempts to limit and restrict private property rights. Regardless of what the government believes, we the people own the government. Not the other way around.

From an empirical observation, one can only conclude that corporations are maliciously attacking one from all angles.

Governor McCrory worked for Duke Ind for 28 years. Mmmmm..........

reply to post by jacktorrance


Please, please keep this on the radar here at ATS. If there's anything that I can personally do to help, let me know. I'm out west, but have plenty of time to fire off useless letters to congress. I say useless because it would fall on def ears. Your local and national politicians already know about this, yet it seems no one cares..let alone, do something to stop this criminal behavior. I'm sick of it!!!!

There's an entire future generation of children that deserve better...not to mention, speaking as a human, every human being residing on this planet deserves access to clean water...everyone...everywhere. No one should be subjected to this kind of abuse. I currently do a ton of volunteer work for wateraid.org, however, most of my time is dedicated to the African continent. I'm going to make some calls and message you early next week.

This has to STOP 🔴


Ps
We should all join in and do our dam best to assist these people. They need our assistance.

Jim Rogers recently retired as Chairman and CEO of Duke. He was also the chairman of the 2012 Democratic Convention, which he helped bring to Charlotte.

Not suggesting that this is a Dem/Pub thing...just that they are all thick as thieves. Nothing surprising.

Jim has an interesting history. Years ago, he was the top dog at PSI. When they were gobbled up by Cinergy, Jim became CEO of the combined company. Later, Cinergy was acquired by Duke, and Jim once again ascended to the top.

Finally, Duke was set to merge with Progress, forming the largest energy company in America. Part of the deal was that Jim would step down, with the Progress CEO assuming the top slot. Within hours of the merger's completion, the Progress guy was out and Jim had found a way to remain in control.

reply to post by ThePublicEnemyNo1

Please, please keep this on the radar here at ATS. If there's anything that I can personally do to help, let me know. I'm out west, but have plenty of time to fire off useless letters to congress. I say useless because it would fall on def ears. Your local and national politicians already know about this, yet it seems no one cares..let alone, do something to stop this criminal behavior. I'm sick of it!!!!

There's an entire future generation of children that deserve better...not to mention, speaking as a human, every human being residing on this planet deserves access to clean water...everyone...everywhere. No one should be subjected to this kind of abuse. I currently do a ton of volunteer work for wateraid.org, however, most of my time is dedicated to the African continent. I'm going to make some calls and message you early next week.

This has to STOP 🔴

You are absolutely awesome. And I truly mean that. I've shared this on social media sites and despite many of the people that received this message living in these areas that are affected by this mess, only one person commented and said it was awful. It's like a wave of complacency has settled in and people are simply accepting it.

Well, I'm not. I'm currently trying to organize a group to write letters and possibly rally against this madness. Protesting may very well fall on deaf ears and we may be ignored, but damn it if I won't try. I wish more people had your passion about this and I truly appreciate your thoughtful response.

I appreciate all the responses on this so far.

They Should take the people who dump it and the boss.
and put them in jail for 15 years.
for terrorism!
they are poisoning the water supply.

if YOU took a tanker and did this!
you would go to jail. NO fines!
but big business just keeps paying back hardens.

ps. good post and love your Isis.

stirling
Should be seized and nationalised....these criminals are not responsible to anyone.....take their company with a huge fine and run it yourselves for Carolinans......the example may start a trend....

As if nationalized or government run operations have a sterling, unblemished rate of success?

reply to post by buddha


I completely agree. Things would be incredibly different if one of us lowly civies were doing this. Not to mention it would be plastered on major news outlets and declared terrorism, like you said. But nothing..not a whisper on CNN or Fox or MSNBC. Not that I'd expect it.

And thank you, I love Egyptian mythology. Nephthys is actually one of my favorites, but she's harder to find a picture of.