Judge Issues Ruling in Favor of DEQ on Coal Ash-related Petition

The Administrative Law Judge presiding over the Duke Energy appeal of the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) coal ash closure decision issued another ruling in favor of DEQ on Friday.

The ALJ granted DEQ’s motion to dismiss Duke Energy’s petition challenging DEQ’s August decision not to change the methodology to determine the background threshold values of coal ash constituents in groundwater.  The challenged methodology has been in use since 2017. Background threshold values may be relevant to the Corrective Action Plans due on March 31, 2020, for the coal ash sites. The ALJ dismissed Duke’s petition on the grounds that the claims are not ripe for review. Full text of the order and DEQ’s motion to dismiss are available here.