Groundwater Studies

With groundwater safety at the forefront, Duke Energy is submitting updated groundwater studies to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality for each of the 14 coal plants in North Carolina. The studies, called Comprehensive Site Assessments (CSA), are the result of thousands of hours of work by outside experts, providing the most thorough picture to date of the groundwater near Duke Energy's coal ash sites in North Carolina.

The company and state regulators will use this science and engineering, along with other information, to determine how best to continue to protect groundwater as ash basins are closed.

Updates to the groundwater studies include more data locations, more sample results and broader geographic areas. Since the groundwater study process began in 2015, we’ve installed 1,200 additional groundwater monitoring wells and have gathered more than 10,000 soil and water samples. This gives us added precision as we plan for safely closing ash basins in ways that protect communities and the environment.

These groundwater studies are just one step in a much broader effort underway to safely close ash basins. Our closure plans include a combination of approaches. Some will include removing water and capping basins in place. Other basins are being excavated and the ash recycled for concrete, used in place of soil as structural fill or placed in a lined landfill. These closure plans are customized and are based on extensive science and engineering. All closure plans will meet state and federal regulations and will be approved by regulators in advance.


2015 Comprehensive Site Assessments