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2014-05-02 Duke Energy's Acceptance of Responsibilty & Accountability of Coal Ash Spill in Dan River i 1 Vittgprbauia (ountp TSoarb of *uperbigorg RESOLUTION 2014-05-02 VIRGINIA: At the regular meeting of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors held on Monday, May 05, 2014, the following resolution was presented and adopted. WHEREAS,Duke Energy operated a power generating facility referred to as the Dan River Steam Station, located in Rockingham County,North Carolina, for 63 years; and WHEREAS,the three units of the Dan River Steam Station were retired in 2012, leaving in place two coal ash ponds located adjacent to the Dan River; and WHEREAS, on February 2, 2014 approximately 39,000 tons of coal ash and 35 million gallons of contaminated wastewater were released into the Dan River from a broken stormwater pipe located beneath an unlined coal ash pond at this Dan River Steam Station ;and '' WHEREAS,this coal ash spill resulted in coal ash deposits in the Dan River and still undetermined potential impacts to the river's natural ecosystem; and WHEREAS,the Dan River flows from the coal ash spill site through Pittsylvania County, Virginia and is an important natural resource to the people of Pittsylvania County both for recreational and economic development reasons; and WHEREAS, Pittsylvania County has recognized the importance of the Dan River by supporting its addition to the Virginia Scenic Rivers program;and WHEREAS,the President of Duke Energy has stated, "We apologize and will use all available resources to take care of the river."and"We will do the right thing for the river and surrounding communities. We are accountable.",then BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors accepts Duke Energy's responsibility and accountability for the Dan River coal ash spill and requests that the interests and concerns of the residents of Pittsylvania County be considered and addressed throughout the process of clean up and remediation of all impacts associated with the spill, both environmental and economic; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Pittsylvania County government and elected officials should be fully informed and involved in any and all decisions about how Duke Energy addresses both real and perceived damages to the Dan River and the region's image. 1 Given under my hand this 5th day of May, 2014 . ti' /34.h-A-4--( a -e ', . '\ J ssie L. Barksdale, Chairman t --',/--1',7_ •, "'"y ,` YT Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors •∎ , ,1�,.��u�;fir- :• � l 1 ' ,71 1 is S. Hawker, terim Clerk � ' I i� Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors F f•N DUKE �C ENERGY® Lynn J.Good MAR 2 8 2014 President,CEO and Vice Chair Duke Energy Corporation 550 South Tryon Street Charlotte,NC 28202 March 25, 2014 Mailing Address: DEC 481 P.O.Box 1321 Charlotte, NC 28201 Otis Hawker County Manager Chatham County P 0 Box 426 Chatham,VA 24531 Dear Otis Hawker: We at Duke Energy care deeply about North Carolina and the health and safety of our communities. I am writing to affirm my commitment to working with you and other leaders throughout the State to fully address the events of the past several weeks, as well as reach sound, responsible solutions for how we manage coal ash in our state. As CEO of a public utility, I have the privilege of helping North Carolinians meet their energy needs for their businesses and their everyday lives. I am also responsible for ensuring that we operate safely and without incident. And when accidents occur, I take ownership for our response and how we implement lessons learned to continually improve how we operate and serve our communities. Our families and loved ones live in these communities. Our future is closely linked to the future of the communities we serve. As I wrote to Governor McCrory and Secretary Skvarla,North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), on March 12, 2014, we are developing and implementing a disciplined, fact-based approach to evaluating long-term solutions for ash basins at the Company's retired Dan River plant, as well as to ensure safe monitoring and management of all our ash basins. Each power plant site is unique, and the long-term solutions require analysis of trade-offs, risks and costs. Drinking water from the Dan River has remained safe and the river has returned to normal water quality levels. With the high priority this calls for, we are moving aggressively to update, expand and accelerate our actions: • We have established an internal strategic task force, with deep expertise, to oversee the comprehensive engineering review of every Duke Energy ash basin, as well as to implement near-term actions and develop longer-term solutions system wide. This team is directly accountable to me. PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY VIRGINIA .o v L v4 Otis S. Hawker r13.� � 1 Center Street Chatham,Vir nia Interim County Administrator 4•.`s.��\P.O.Box 426 ° �„'�'+1'� c Phone (434) 432-7710 Chatham,Virginia 24531 ` o y Fax (434) 432-7714 otis.hawker @pittgov.org 176 ' Website: www.pittgov.org IRG114\ May 6,2014 Lynn J. Good President, CEO and Vice Chair Duke Energy Corporation DEC 48/P.O.Box 1321 Charlotte,NC 28201 RE: Pittsylvania County,Virginia: Resolution 2014-05-02; Coal Ash Spill into Dan River Dear Ms. Good: Attached hereto is Resolution 2014-05-02 passed by the Board of Supervisors of Pittsylvania County, Virginia concerning the coal ash spill from the Dan River Steam Station into the Dan River that occurred on February 2, 2014. Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors accepts Duke Energy's responsibility and accountability for the Dan River coal ash spill and requests that the interests and concerns of the residents of Pittsylvania County be considered and addressed throughout the process of clean up and remediation of all impacts associated with the spill, both environmental and economic. Furthermore, the Board expects the Pittsylvania County government and elected officials should be fully informed and involved in any and all decisions about how Duke Energy addresses both real and perceived damages to the Dan River and the region's image. If you should have any questions concerning the attached resolution, do not hesitate to contact my office at(434)432-7710. Sincerely, ((,&,e) OHawker Interim County Administrator OSH/rf Attachment Cc: Honorable Members of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors.