Federal Prosecutors Widen Investigation in NC Coal Ash Spill

From Ring of Fire:

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the state of North Carolina for reams of state documents and are ordering 20 state environmental agency employees to testify before a grand jury following a massive coal ash spill in the state earlier this month.

According to The Associated Press, the subpoenas were made public by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday. Prosecutors have also ordered state officials to disclose any records “pertaining to investments, cash or other items of value they might have received from Duke Energy or its employees.”

On February 2, a pipeline running under a coal ash pond at Duke Energy’s Dan River facility began leaking tens of thousands of tons of coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina. Residents began noticing that the river appeared black, though Duke did not report the spill until Monday afternoon, 24 hours after the leak was discovered. Duke has also been served with a new subpoena.

You can read the full article here at Ring of Fire.