Company president and CEO Lynn Good said the company remained committed to doing the right thing on coal ash with storage solutions that protected the environment, including ground water.

“Our goal is to lead with a proactive, fact-based and scientific approach to this work and we continue to advance the comprehensive plan we proposed last March,” she said.

“The work we’re doing now allows us to continue down the path toward permanent closure of our ash basins in North Carolina.

“We will continue to work constructively with regulators and lawmakers to advance an enhanced plan for the long-term management of coal ash in North Carolina.

“We will also adjust our coal ash management plans according to forthcoming federal rules on ash, which are expected in December.”

Last month Duke Energy completed its clean-up of a coal ash spill from its retired Dan River Steam Station in Eden, North Carolina.

That operation began in May and about 2500 short tons of coal ash and river sediment were removed from the location just upstream of the Schoolfield Dam in Danville, Virginia.

The clean-up effort was sparked by a break in a stormwater pipe beneath an ash basin at the old power station on February 2.

Duke permanently plugged the 36-inch and 48-inch stormwater pipes.