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

This was mentioned by posters prior to me, but if any of us dumped chemicals like this we would be jailed for domestic terrorism. They are doing this, it is saving them $x/year and the fine is some value less than x, meaning the corporation will continue to do it.

They are taking years off your life, giving your parents, neighbors, and children cancer, while poisoning the land to save a few dollars. Furthermore they are politically connected enough to get out of any legal issues. While charging you for the privilege of doing so.

There is only one solution.

Speechless. Just, speechless.

Carolinians should get some funnelators (beer bahngs) and make the CEO and other executives of Duke, as well as the NC governor (and his flunkies), who worked thirty years for Duke and who, until these scandals flared, was shielding Duke from Clean Water Act suits by citizen groups. Make their families chug the water too. This would stop corporate environmental pollution in a heart beat.

This goes on all over the country. You'd be surprised at how many corporations dump stuff into our water ways. I'm from Michigan and spend a lot of time on the water fishing. I bet we have 10x the amount of pollution and illegal dumping then that coal plant. I once saw a river of turds more then a mile long. In the summer certain areas smell like a turd in a deep fryer. We can't even swim in the lakes because of the e coli levels. The federal government gave the state $200 million dollars to overhaul the sewage system in the Detroit metro area and they spent it on other stuff. We have factories on the St Clair River that have dumped millions of gallons of highly toxic chemicals (polyvinyl chloride) into the the great lakes. Chemicals so toxic one exposure can cause cancer. We also get toxic algae blooms that exposure can lead to kidney and liver failure. It's been in the paper that this stuff has shown up at the water treatment plant. No ones done a damn thing about it. I've been following this stuff for 20 years.

reply to post by jacktorrance


For those who are interested, here's the report made by Rachel Maddow on this event;


What these companies are doing should IMO, be viewed as crimes against humanity or at the very least domestic terrorism, as I'm sure it would have been had an individual released these toxins into any public drinking water source.

Furthermore, fines regardless of their size, will never be a sufficient deterrent for eliminating this problem. Either they end up being cheaper than legally disposing of the waste and are viewed by the company as just one of the "cost" of doing business, or they're massive enough to entice the company to file for bankruptcy protection where they avoid the fines altogether and the next thing you know, the business is up and running again under a new name.

The only punishment that will serve as a true deterrent is jail time and until such time that incarceration becomes mandatory for these types of crimes, greed and ignorance will rule the day.

Then again, should North Carolinians really expect anything different when they repeatedly elect politicians from the party that continuously promotes the elimination of federal agencies like the EPA? The same political party that claims over-regulation is killing the job "Creators" in their state and across the country? The same political party who denies "climate change," believes in something called "clean coal" and who insist that "hydraulic fracking is safe?

From the source link in the OP;

The state has also been in the spotlight in past years for its climate change denial, most notably marked by a law passed in 2012 to stop the use of climate-related science to plan for future events. Specifically, that law forces coastal counties to ignore observations and the best science-based projections in planning for future sea level rise.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that everyone in N.C. supports this party or shares their beliefs. As a matter of fact, we have the very same problem in my home state of Texas and it's sickening. I don't know what it's going to take to wake people up, but I'm pretty sure that drinking toxic water isn't the answer.

Here's an old principle that seems to be applicable and it's taken directly from a source that I know to be highly respected by most people in N.C., TX. and the rest of the deep south and Bible belt regions of this country.

"You reap what you sow"

To jacktorrance, F&S for the OP!

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?

Only way to stop this sort of thing is to start putting CEO's in jail. Once we hold the leaders accountable you will see companies follow the rules. Until then we can only hope some company does not kill us all.

Maluhia
reply to post by jacktorrance

 

This is incredibly negligent, especially considering this canal dumps into the Cape Fear River and provides drinking water to several cities and towns.

Not negligent, but willful. They know they will be slapped with a minimal (and very affordable) fine and they will promise to clean it up - which will never happen. Bottom line, it's the cheapest route for them to get rid of the toxins.

edit on 21-3-2014 by Maluhia because: (no reason given)

This kind of thing should be considered a capital crime.

reply to post by wantsome


That sounds absolutely horrible. I'm sorry. I know that this kind of thing happens all over the country, but I felt this was important to share. NC is my home state, so it sickens me.

reply to post by Flatfish


Yeah...we had a group of counties - with several large corporations, including Duke- called NC-20, rally against the scientific data that says our shoreline will rise over a meter within the next 100 years. NC-20 insists that it will only rise roughly 5-10 inches...and they passed a bill saying that any science that says otherwise shouldn't be considered.

So now they are building condos, bridges, roads, etc. based on their own "historical" data that will likely be underwater within the next century. And now, guess what? Our shorelines are one of the fastest rising in the entire world due to climate change.

jacktorrance
reply to post by Maluhia

 

You are probably correct that they will only be fined a small amount, especially considering our Governor is Pat McCrory - a 29 year employee of Duke Energy.

Fact Check : Gov. McCrory

Raleigh, N.C. — NCCapitol's fact-checking staff has had a pair of ads aimed at Gov. Pat McCrory by the Natural Resources Defense Council on our "to-do" list for so long that neither is still on our air. However, we're still getting reader questions about our take on the ads – which cost about $400,000 to air according to ad tracking firms and Federal Election Commission documents – so this is a belated fact check on the pair. The ads: The NRDC aired two different ads, one named "Hands" and the other named "Clean." Both take McCrory to task for the Feb. 2 coal ash spill in the Dan River. "It didn't have to happen – the massive coal ash spill in the Dan River," says a male voice kicking off the "Hands" ad. "But Gov. Pat McCrory didn't do his job[[/a]]." The ad then goes on to list a series of occasions when McCrory's administration did not push hard to clean up the state's coal ash ponds. The "Clean" ad is much the same, and both share the same tag line. "Pat McCrory has coal ash on his hands. It's time for him to clean it up." The backup: NRDC provided full backup sheets for both "Hands" and "Clean," which by and large accurately cite news reports concerning the spill and coal ash. Generally, the ads detail the year of history that preceded the Feb. 2 spill. While that spill was dramatic, dumping up to 39,000 tons of toxin-laced goop into the Dan River, environmental groups have been pushing the state and Duke Energy to clean up coal ash ponds at 14 locations across the states for years. In January 2013, the Southern Environmental Law Center gave the state notice that it would sue to enforce clean water violations under federal law. Instead of allowing that suit to go forward, DENR stepped in to bring suit itself. Recently released emails show the state worked closely with Duke, seemingly cutting SELC and other environmental groups out of the process. Eventually, the state and Duke reached a settlement under which Duke would propose timelines but required no specific actions.

reply to post by Elathan


I'm not saying Pat McCrory knew about the potential for a spill or that he has been in on any of this mess. I'm also not saying that previous representatives from the state have been stricter with Duke Energy. Duke has had a run of the Carolina's for awhile now. I'm saying I doubt Pat McCrory is going to do a lot about this.

Regulations never work, people need to take a stand and come together for a lawsuit against these companies. The government can't nanny everyone and every thing.

eLPresidente
Regulations never work, people need to take a stand and come together for a lawsuit against these companies. The government can't nanny everyone and every thing.

Now that's a brainy statement if I ever heard one! If anything, it's mentality like yours and those who would vote to elect representatives of that mindset into office, that lies at the very root of the problem.

If there were no regulatory statutes in place, just exactly what would you and your group of people sue them for? Furthermore, who among you is going to be responsible for repairing damage done to public lands?

Under current law, if the actions of another has caused harm to you and/or your property, nothing is stopping you and/or a group of people from suing them now. The real problem with your proposal is that almost no individuals and very few groups, have anywhere near the financial resources needed to successfully confront one of these corporations in a court of law. A recent study showed that 85 people had more money than half the world's population combined, so how many people do you think you can gather?

Federal standards and regulations, although far from perfect, have proven to be the ONLY thing that works. Just take a look at some of these places that actually put your theory into practice;

Beijing,China;



Nigeria




Caucasus


Those are just a few, I could show you literally hundreds of examples like these where regulations are basically non-existent. I don't know exactly why they chose not to adopt regulations. Maybe they decided to just trust the energy companies to do the "right" thing, or maybe they thought that groups of people could ban together and sue them if they didn't.

We can clearly see how well that's working for them, now can't we?

and this is the very reason we need to get rid of the epa!

the big corps are perfectly capable to police themselves and make sure such things dont happen, and if they do, clean them up in a timely and responsible matter.

reply to post by stormson


Me too. I am convinced I can trust my well being to corporations. I mean, they are people too.

I am glad I am at the end, because I don't want to witness the consequences in 10years. We take food and water for granted and believe it will never die. Food are living things and need the same love and care we all need to thrive.

duke energy doesn't care about your clean water or food, they care about their profits....talk about sheeple and waking up, I keep hearing those 2 phrases as they relate to big government, democrats, liberals, 2nd amendment...but when the corporations are Fing up your water, and land, you keep voting for the same people (republicans) that give them that power in the first place...I usually have great empathy for people that get screwed over by greedy corporations. but in this case, in the state of north Carolina...I don't...they voted in a governor that was employed by duke energy for 30 years, and the attorney that is representing the state in the coal ash spill also represented duke energy...where are the tens of thousands of tea party members marching on the capital, holding signs, giving speeches, demanding change?....oh, that's right...it's not about Obama or the 2nd amendment...it's just about a corporation poisoning men, women, and children...nothing to see here, move along.....hmmm, I wonder if you could get the Koch Bros. to sponsor the anti-pollution rallies?....(sarcasm intended)
www.roanoke.com...
www.motherjones.com...

reply to post by jacktorrance


All i can say is... 'at least its not nuclear waste'.

After Fukushima, im kinda thankful... cos this headline could easily be much worse!

reply to post by jimmyx


You know what? Unfortunately you're right. We need a major overhaul in our state government.

combatmaster
reply to post by jacktorrance

 

All i can say is... 'at least its not nuclear waste'.

After Fukushima, im kinda thankful... cos this headline could easily be much worse!

Well, coal ash is radioactive, it's effects are even worse than nuclear waste too in terms of harm per kwh/waste generated, they'll both give you cancer. The only difference is that we can kind of dispose of it (send some of it to the ocean, bury the rest in containers that don't contain it) so there's never a huge amount at once. Because we can't dispose of nuclear waste, when something goes bad the problem is far bigger.