Clean Water for North Carolina

Join us in celebration of 35 years of working together!

Sept. 21, 1:30 – 5:00 PM

The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Avenue, Asheville

Clean Water for NC and our many community allies have been hard at work standing up against threats to drinking water, public health, and environmental justice. Join us for stories and updates from the frontlines of drinking water and community environmental justice action, Saturday, September 21st in Asheville!

Program Highlights Include:

Fighting the Harms of Coal Ash—Stories from Impacted Communities

The Climate Emergency: Worsening Environmental Injustice; Pipeline Impact

Time for Action: No More Missed Opportunities to Stop PFAS Contamination!

Poultry Operations—Invasion of An Massive, Unregulated Polluting Industry

Water Justice—Well Testing, Mobile Home Parks, Fighting Rate Hikes

Join us to celebrate 35 years of working together!

Current CWFNC Members & Students: Free
(Current members are folks who have given since Sept. 1, 2018. Not sure if you’re a current member? Email us: hope@cwfnc.org)

Non-Members: $15

Ticket + 1 yr Membership: $25

Any available tickets will be at the door for the above donations

Entertainment by the FRUIT of LABOR Singing Ensemble! **Special donation concert 6‐8 PM**

Thank you for supporting our work to achieve environmental justice and safe, affordable water for all. Our members, foundation partners, volunteers, and allies are all essential to meet these goals, and we can’t wait to see you on the 21st!

The news was announced on April Fools Day, but it was no joke! DEQ (The NC Dept. of Environmental Quality), backed by strong science, stood with coal ash communities in their decision to order Duke Energy to excavate coal ash from every remaining site in the state and move it into lined landfills. Duke Energy wasted no time in rebuking DEQ, speaking scathingly
about the ordered clean-up, and leveraging its power to safeguard its own interests, but NC residents, businesses, and organizations, will not be standing down.

On April 2, Senate Bill 559 backed by Duke Energy was introduced in the NC legislature. Fronted as a storm recovery bill, it would allow the utility to request multi-year rate increases up to five years ahead of time for long-term projects (i.e. coal ash cleanup) and bypass the hurdle of annual rate cases with the NC Utilities Commission. A report by a state social justice advocacy group revealed many of the bill’s sponsors had received a surge of campaign donations from Duke in 2018. The bill soared through the NC Senate and passed its first reading in the House of Representatives in early May. In response to Duke’s rate bill, NC businesses including Google and Walmart, have come out against it, concerned that it could “lead to unchecked electricity rate increases.” Additionally, NC Attorney General, Josh Stein, filed an appeal to overturn a previous decision to allow Duke to collect recovery costs from customers for coal ash cleanup. The resistance against the utility’s potential rate increase is mounting as news outlets publish letters from concerned residents and advocates, demanding that Duke and its shareholders pay to clean up their own mess.

Meanwhile, in mid-April Duke Energy took a more direct approach to challenging the DEQ decision by filing an appeal. In it, they challenge DEQ’s authority to order full excavation and claimed the department was not looking out for ratepayers. Duke brandished a new, $10 billion estimate for coal ash cleanup by the 2029 deadline (twice the previous estimate in their closure proposals) and cited concerns for their customers about rate increases. They claimed that DEQ stepped over the line by choosing a closure method for all sites based on the idea that excavation is “more protective” rather than just “protective” enough. But with unlined coal ash pits sitting below the groundwater table and historic rainfall events on the rise, simply removing excess water from the ash and capping it was no guarantee contaminants wouldn’t find their way into drinking water supplies. Governor Cooper and Secretary Regan, as well as some of Duke Energy’s own shareholders, are standing by DEQ’s decision to protect communities.

Duke spokespeople are responding heatedly to all negative press to reduce the PR damage, but their actions clearly speak louder than words. As they repeat their script about ratepayer concerns, they await approval on a bill that would give them greater power to increase rates. In South Carolina, ratepayers came out against a massive rate increase for coal ash cleanup and succeeded in greatly reducing the amount the utility could collect. Duke responded by threatening to pull future investments in customer services in the state. NC coal ash impacted communities and advocates understand what’s at stake and will not be intimidated by such tactics. We are watching and listening, and we won’t be backing down. We will continue to stand together against coal ash injustice.