"Prosecutors: Duke Energy Could Have Avoided Dan River Spill"

"As Duke Energy pleaded guilty Thursday in a North Carolina courtroom to nine criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act, federal prosecutors recounted examples where time and again the nation's largest electricity company failed to prevent its illegal pollution.

Two years before the massive February 2014 spill at a Duke ash dump in Eden coated 70 miles of the Dan River in gray sludge, engineers at the plant twice requested $20,000 from company headquarters to use a robotic camera to inspect aging drainage pipes, including the one that later collapsed, triggering the disaster.

Prosecutors said Duke executives denied the request both times, even after a top manager at the plant personally pleaded for the money to inspect the pipes."

Michael Biesecker and Mitch Weiss report for the Associated Press May 14, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Prosecutors: Duke Energy Ignored Warnings Before Ash Spill" (Charlotte Observer)

"Duke Energy Pleads Guilty Thursday in Coal Ash Case" (Charlotte Observer)

"Duke Energy Fined $102 Million for Polluting Rivers With Coal Ash" (Los Angeles Times)

"Duke Energy Pleads Guilty To Environmental Crimes in North Carolina" (Reuters)