The narrative of North Carolina’s struggle to clean up the Duke Energy coal-ash spill keeps getting crazier. This week it was announced that current governor, Pat McCrory, teamed up with former governors Jim Hunt and Jim Martin. Together, the governors filed a suit against the Republican leadership: State House Speaker, and Senator-Elect, Thom Tillis & State Senate Leader Phil?Berger Sr.
The heart of the suit lay in the nine-member commission formed by the legislature over the devastating coal-ash spill Feb. 7, in which the legislative branch appointed six members and the governor appointed three. The Governors’ argument is that the commission itself violated separation of powers, giving power to the legislature that should stay in the executive branch. The commission, which became a law without McCrory’s signature, is set for their first meeting today.
The commission is charged with the overseeing of Duke Energy’s clean-up of its 33 coal-ash ponds. It will work in a multi-layer process, firstly, by giving 5 years for Duke Energy to remove the ash from four sites deemed high-priority. Secondly, Duke Energy will have until 2029 to either remove the ash from the remaining ponds, or cap with a layer of plastic and cover with soil.
The lawsuit also seeks the legality of two other panels created; an Oil and Gas commission and a Mining commission. These all have a massive effect on our environment and with a governor in office with questionable ties to one of these industries, it is important to have an impartial look at the impact they are having on the state.
McCroy’s proven ties with Duke Energy is concerning. He worked for the company?for almost 29 years, and lied in two state ethics filings about the amount of stock he held in the company. Duke Energy was also a major campaign contributor for his runs in 2008 and 2012, amounting to $332,836. Money talks Governor McCroy and your actions since governor beg me to question if you work for the’state of North Carolina or if you still work for Duke Energy.
While I have not stood with Tillis, I voted against him in this past election, I will stand with him if he is fighting for Duke to finish their clean up! While Tillis, and Kay Hagan for that matter, both accepted money this past election cycle from the coal industry and Duke Energy, I feel that it is important to push companies to be responsible. If his motive is to create a third party review of these industries I will support him.
Shortly after the spill Amy Adams, former employee for the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, spoke out against what she has seen happen since McCrory took office.
“Well, what they [the state] did with the lawsuit was they stepped in at the last moment and then, instead of having Duke face environmental groups in federal court, when the state steps in as the plaintiff, then they are in a position to make an agreement, a settlement agreement through the courts, with Duke directly and cuts out any public involvement. […]?By stepping in, what they did was they shielded Duke from potential higher fines or potential more extensive remediation of pollution impacts, because they became the plaintiff, and therefore that put them in a position to say what the penalties would be and what the remediation would be, without that public input.”
Governor McCrory’s connection with this lawsuit, gives the illusion of a man trying to protect his buddies. This suit could be productive if the panels convened by the legislature did over-step their role. Bringing in the judicial branch is the right thing to do to ensure the system of “checks and balances” stays in line. This issue is much larger than just a panel, however, and scary enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of talk about it.
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