Judge rightly lets environmental groups in on coal ash case

Published May 13, 2014

Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, May 12, 2014.

Cheers to Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway, whose ruling last week will allow environmental groups to have access to documents from Duke Energy and the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources relating to groundwater leaching from the company’s coal ash dumps.

Ridgeway ruled that a coalition of environmental groups can participate in the state’s enforcement action against Duke Energy for the leaching, The Associated Press reported. Environmentalists, who last year tried to use the Clean Water Act to force Duke to clean up its 33 ash pits across the state, liked the ruling.

“This means that local conservation groups in communities across North Carolina will have a direct say and play a direct role in determining what will happen in the state enforcement action against Duke’s coal pollution and coal ash storage,” Frank Holleman, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents the coalition, told the AP.

The ruling widens the parties allowed in on the case. “We have seen that if only Duke and DENR are there, the community and clean water are not protected,” Holleman said.

The coalition includes Appalachian Voices, the Waterkeeper Alliance and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Now, it will have access to the same documents that the state and Duke have, the AP reported.

That’s how it should be. Good for Judge Ridgeway.

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May 13, 2014 at 10:15 am
Norm Kellly says:

Surprise! I agree with this post. The environmental groups SHOULD be in on the action with this case.

Most of the time, environmental groups are so close-minded that they are opposed to anything that business or private property owners want to do. They are so hell-bent on preventing people from doing virtually anything that keeping these groups OUT of the loop is usually the right and proper thing.

However, in this case this is the better decision. Why do I agree with this one? Because Duke has proven they do NOT have the environment or the citizens of NC in mind when deciding how to store poisons. DENR has demonstrated for more than a decade that they are unwilling to do their job. Libs, media types that used to report news, and some DENR employees naturally blame the Republican take-over of state government as the cause of such slack, almost non-existent regulation by DENR. But truth and facts, always missed by libs, usually missed by media types, always ignored by government agencies when it's in their best interest, prove that the government employees charged with protecting citizens and the environment have NOT done their job! Someone or many someone's at DENR need to be punished. Fired or jail time. Termination, elimination of retirement benefits. Some sort of punishment for we taxpayers having paid their salaries, expected them to do their job, and being left out in the cold. Perhaps there are even some demon politicians from the legislature, or even from the govs office should be punished as well. An investigation of the GOVERNMENT should take place, not just an investigation of wrong doing by Duke. If government employees or elected officials were the cause of DENR ignoring their duty, then those people need to be punished as well. It does not matter at what point a demon politician was guilty of pressuring DENR, if it happened, so that Duke was allowed to violate the laws/rules, or the DENR employee responded to political pressure and refused to do their job. It must be dealt with. Which government employee or politician will be held responsible?

The used-to-be news outlets, now more properly called media, democRAT politicians, and the average lib want to blame the new Republican legislature. Many in the media have already started a campaign against McCrory. Many in the demon party have boarded this train at the station and are running ads against McCrory blaming him for the coal ash pond existence. Except, since it's libs, media types, and demoncrat politicians telling us about the causes, we know THEY are the guilty ones. You know that if demon politicians blame the new Republican legislature, the problem was created when the demons controlled ALL of Raleigh. The facts bear out that it was when the Demoncrat pols controlled Raleigh that the situation was created. But the media won't carry the truth. Is this because it will hurt their friends, buddies, associates in the demon party? Why else?

Truth sometimes hurts. People have the ability to work around the pols and media to get the truth. It would be nice if more people stopped wasting time with Idol or that stupid cast-away show and started paying attention and doing their own homework. Stupid tv shows are a waste of time and a perfect diversion for the demon party to take advantage (continue to take advantage) of low-information voters.