NC scientist resigns, accuses GOP of misleading public on water quality

Posted by | August 15, 2016 10:16 | Filed under: News Behaving Badly Politics


Megan Davies is quitting her job of seven years and giving up a salary of $188,000.

The story begins in 2014, when a Duke Energy power plant spilled 40,000 tons of toxic coal ash and 27 million gallons of wastewater into the Dan River. The ash is a byproduct of burning coal, and it’s harmful to people and ecosystems, containing silica, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic.

In the aftermath of the spill, public concern grew over Duke’s 32 coal ash storage sites around the state. Many of them were revealed to be unprotected, sitting in unlined basins — just heaps of coal ash in giant pits, leaching toxic elements and a carcinogen called hexavalent chromium into the water table.

Soon after, hundreds of households near the storage sites were told by state officials not to drink from their wells due to concerns over water quality. In April 2015, Duke Energy began providing bottled water to those homes.

The do-not-drink order, however, didn’t last. A year after warning residents that their well water wasn’t safe, representatives from the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Health and Human Services changed their minds, writing to the impacted households that their water was actually fine.

Testing, however, showed that well water near the coal ash sites still had levels of hexavalent chromium higher than in the municipal water supply. And Duke Energy, it turned out, had lobbied the state to reverse the do-not-drink order, even though nothing about most of the storage sites had changed. There were still unlined coal ash sites dotting the state, and there were still toxins in the water.

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Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

23 responses to NC scientist resigns, accuses GOP of misleading public on water quality

  1. whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 10:27

    STOP putting these money hungry do nothing, don’t give a sh!t about you repukes. damn.

  2. crc3 August 15th, 2016 at 11:01

    Of course Duke Energy has lined the pockets of Repulsive candidates to overflowing. Of course it’s all about money. Of course voters are too stupid to realize the impact and continue to vote Repulsive. Of course those same voters don’t care as long as it doesn’t impact them. Caring and compassion for their fellow man is obviously not traits of Repulsives as indicated in this situation. May they all rot in hell…

  3. labman57 August 15th, 2016 at 11:04

    Chromium (VI) – containing compounds are indeed nasty stuff.

    Republicans are all about living in a “green” world — they will gladly live with the green glow of radioactive soil, the greenish hue of toxic sludge in our water supply, and a dramatic increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases … in exchange for a ‘pile of green’ from anti-environmental groups as well as fossil fuel and nuclear industry lobbyists.

  4. Larry Schmitt August 15th, 2016 at 11:05

    So naturally every Republican platform includes deregulating everything, and dismantling the watchdog agencies, including the EPA. Businesses, without someone to keep an eye on them, will do what Duke, and Monsanto, and Dow, and every other energy and chemical company, have done for years when they can: pollute the air and water, and rake in the profits.

  5. anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 12:12

    Another lost cause in this country is the clean up of toxic dumps these corporations keep creating.

    The cost of cleaning up hazardous sites is increasing even as Superfund dollars are running out.

    In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated the cost of cleanup was increasing beyond the current funding needed for Superfund sites. In the past decade, EPA allocated $243 million per year for Superfund cleanup. It estimates $335 million to $681 million per year will be needed for future cleanup.

    The EPA attempts to bill the company responsible for contamination. Sometimes, the company no longer exists or is bankrupt, so the EPA pays for cleanup out of the Superfund trust, previously funded by a tax on petroleum products. The tax was discontinued in 1995.

    Companies that do pay for the cleanup do not have to report to the EPA how much is spent, further complicating efforts to track costs of Superfund site cleanups.

  6. anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 12:14

    Belive me folks, you live close to a toxic waste dump.

    • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 12:18

      that’s frightening and disgusting at the same damn time.

      • anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 12:33

        Happy Monday whatthe.

        Wouldn’t you love to see any of these politicians give a press conference from one of the sites.

        And the problem is the government is just as bad with creating, and not cleaning up these sites.

        • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 12:37

          well, it’s monday, but i ain’t happy right now. it’s raining outside and my drivers side window fell inside the door and i can’t get it up. i need to take the panel off. so, i put something to cover the window last night and it’s still raining and i can’t drive because i can’t see anything to my right. so, i’m missing out on money because i can’t get to work. i need the rain to stop long enough to go to the store and find something suitable to cover it with until i can get someone to take the stupid panel off. just hoping that the glass in broken. this sucks.

          • anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 13:18

            Yeah, you gotta get that fixed.

            Did you try Safelite?

            https://www.safelite.com/?utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Core+Brand+Exact&utm_term=safelite%20auto%20glass

            I am pretty sure they fix side windows, and maybe they will bill your insurance company?

            • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 13:46

              i never thought of that for one second. i would have only thought of it if the windshield was to crack. now, i’m gonna call and see if they can come and take the panel off to get to it. don’t know, but i’ll give it a try. thanks sweetie.

            • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 14:00

              oh well, 320 bucks. someone is on crack. not doing that.

              • anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 14:14

                Well I am still glad you called them.

                At least now we BOTH now know they are “on crack”.

                hahahahahahahahah.

                Good luck.

                • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 14:19

                  i’m gonna pay the Mexican 2 miles from here at his shop 30 bucks to take the damn panel off and pull the window back up. and i’m serious he said 30 bucks. LOL

                  • anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 14:30

                    So we both learned a very valuable lesson today.

                    Check with the Mexicans first.

                    And that safellite outfit abusesdrugs..

                    Your day is looking brighter.

                    • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 14:38

                      cracking up laughing. oh boy. wow

                    • whatthe46 August 15th, 2016 at 16:49

                      it’s fixed. ha! 30 bucks. i need a new motor for the window, but, that’s not a rush for it. i just need the window up.

                    • anothertoothpick August 15th, 2016 at 17:17

                      Glad to hear it.

  7. Warman1138 August 15th, 2016 at 14:47

    Welcome to America and bring your own water.

  8. majii August 15th, 2016 at 15:09

    McCrory and his GOP buddies in the state have no worries about contaminated drinking water as long as their corporate masters are satisfied. They’re not public servants, they’re corporate stooges.

    • granpa.usthai August 15th, 2016 at 23:52

      LYING, THIEVING ‘christian’ corporate stooges!

  9. alpacadaddy August 15th, 2016 at 21:58

    GOP, doin’ their best to poison the Earth and all that are stupid enough to believe their crap… gee, is this the true meaning of ‘Trickle Down’?

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