20 More Federal Subpoenas In Duke Coal Waste Dump Including ?s About Payments And Gifts
RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal prosecutors have broadened their criminal investigation of state environmental regulators after a massive coal ash spill Feb. 2 that contaminated the Dan River in North Carolina, issuing 20 more subpoenas demanding documents about communications and possible payments and gifts.
The subpoenas, disclosed Wednesday, require the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to produce records of any payments or "items of value" received from or provided to Duke Energy, the giant utility whose coal ash containment basin spilled as much as 82,000 tons of toxic coal and 27 million gallons of contaminated water into the river.
About 19 agency employees are required to produce documents — "to include but not limited to: cash, check, wire transfer and stock transfer," the subpoenas say — and most are compelled to testify before a federal grand jury March 18. In an attached letter, the U.S. attorney in Raleigh, Thomas G. Walker, described a "criminal investigation of a suspected felony."
The latest subpoenas seek records not only about the Feb. 2 spill but about dealings between the agency and Duke Energy regarding coal ash ponds at all 14 North Carolina Duke plants since 2009. Duke Energy, the country's largest electricity provider, said it received a second federal subpoena Wednesday related to the spill. A spokesman, Thomas Williams, declined to provide details.
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http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-coal-ash-20140220,0,3738665.story