"Leaked DEQ Report: Most Coal Ash Basins High Priority To Be Excavated"

"A leaked draft report compiled by [North Carolina] state environmental officials shows that the coal ash waste in a huge basin at the Duke Energy power plant in Belews Creek, and in basins at almost all other Duke power plant sites statewide, will have to be excavated and put in lined landfills by 2019.

The possible impact of the draft report remains unclear.

The Southern Environmental Law Center — the conservation group that leaked the draft report — tried to boost the report’s relevance by saying Thursday it was drafted just weeks before it must be submitted on Dec. 31. At the same time, state Department of Environmental Quality and Duke Energy officials tried to downplay the importance of the report."

Bertrand M. Gutiérrez reports for the Winston-Salem Journal December 17, 2015.