Duke Energy agrees to $2.5 million environmental settlement for Dan River coal ash spill

Duke Energy on Friday agreed to a $2.5 million settlement proposed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for the February 2014 coal ash spill that dumped 39,000 tons of ash into the Dan River in North Carolina, Bruce Henderson reports for The Charlotte Observer. "Ash flowed 80 miles downstream to Virginia’s Kerr Reservoir."

Duke will spend $2.25 million for environmental projects in the area, and $250,000 will be placed in a DEQ fund to respond to environmental emergencies, Henderson writes. "Department director David Paylor said in a statement that the settlement 'ensures that Duke is held fully accountable for the impact of this incident.'"

In March North Carolina fined Duke $25.1 million—the largest environmental fine in state history—for contamination of groundwater by coal ash from the company’s Sutton Plant near Wilmington, N.C. Federal prosecutors are pursuing a separate larger fine for the Dan River spill.