Lake Norman woman who survived kidney cancer sues Duke Energy over toxic coal ash
A Lake Norman woman who developed kidney cancer sued Duke Energy on Wednesday over its disposal of toxic coal ash near and beneath lake-area homes and businesses in the 1990s and 2000s.
Tanya Hall lives in Sherrills Ford along a cove of the lake. In her lawsuit, she said she only recently discovered “the causal link” between her exposure to coal ash and her cancer. She found the link in a report by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, she said.
Coal ash is a byproduct of coal burning in coal-fired energy plants, according to the EPA. The agency regulates coal ash because the ash “contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic,” according to the EPA website.
“Without proper management, these contaminants can pollute waterways, ground water, drinking water, and the air,” the EPA website says.
Hall has lived near a Duke Energy coal ash storage site for eight years, she said in her lawsuit. The site is along Island Point Road, on Duke Energy property north of its Marshall energy plant.
Hall and her lawyers raised the coal ash link during a news conference Wednesday at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse in Charlotte. Hall filed her lawsuit that day in Mecklenburg County Superior Court because Duke Energy is based in Charlotte.
Coal ash led to a spike in thyroid cancer rates and other ailments in nearby Mooresville, the lawsuit said.
“This lawsuit is about holding (Duke Energy) accountable for the harm caused and demanding justice for the families who have suffered far too long,” lawyer Carlos Moore of Mississippi-based Carlos Moore Law Group said at the news conference.
Hall and her legal team “are calling for a full investigation into this public health crisis,” said another lawyer representing her, N. John Bey of Atlanta-based law firm Bey & Associates.
The lawsuit also seeks monetary and other compensation to be determined at trial.
In a statement to The Charlotte Observer on Thursday, a Duke Energy spokesman said the company’s ash sales “were conducted in accordance with applicable state regulations, which set out how ash could be used in ways that are safe for people and the environment.
“As regulations changed over the years, our structural fill practices evolved to comply with all applicable rules,” according to the statement.
“It’s always challenging when people have health issues and are searching for answers, and there are countless risk factors that can contribute to someone’s health condition,” the Duke Energy statement said.
The company is aware of no scientific evidence supporting a link “between health effects and coal ash,” according to the statement. “And there is a considerable body of scientific research that runs counter to such speculation.
“The ingredients in coal ash have been well-studied over many years,”the statement continued. “Critically, experts researching these local concerns, including North Carolina’s health department, reviewed the medical literature and confirmed there is no known connection to coal ash.”
In April, Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney announced plans by the town to buy and clean up a longtime toxic coal ash site along busy N.C. 150, just east of Interstate 77 exit 36, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
Carney said taxpayers would not be on the hook for the cost of buying and cleaning up the property because grants will cover the town’s costs. The mayor said Duke Energy agreed to remove the coal ash.
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Lake Norman woman who survived kidney cancer sues Duke Energy over toxic coal ash."