http://sanford.southernheadlines.com/index.cfm?section=47&story=24967MONCURE — Ash waste pits in Chatham County which are maintained by Progress Energy have been rated as "poor" by the Environmental Protection Agency, some of the worst ratings among more than 40 such plants inspected by the federal government in 2009.
The pits hold ash and other toxic waste generated by coal-burning power plants.
"We take the ratings seriously and we're working to better understand the EPA's assessment, as it doesn't reflect our inspections or those by our third-party inspector," said Scott Sutton, a spokesperson with Progress Energy.
But Sutton also said Progress Energy was pleased that the report "confirms that our ponds are structurally sound."
Sutton said the "poor" ratings come "based on the inspectors' desire to see additional documentation on the ponds, as well as several recommendations for vegetation management and minor erosion control at the ponds."
There are five such ponds at Progress Energy's Chatham County plant, three of which are inactive.
"These three inactive ponds are in a solid, stable state — there's no water in them. They're overgrown with native vegetation — they look like forests," Sutton said. "But the EPA applied the same criteria to active ponds, which do hold wet ash, to inactive ones. "So we're working with the North Carolina Dam Safety Program to determine if these structures still even qualify as dams since they don't hold back water. If we determine that they're no longer dams, we plan to pursue formal decommissioning and removing them from the list of ponds."
For the two ponds which remain active, Sutton said Progress Energy is looking into complying with recommendations to increase the frequency with which the grass on top is mowed and to remove areas of standing water by improving drainage systems.
