DENR reclassifies Sutton Lake, raises dam hazard level

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — State regulators have reclassified Sutton Lake in New Hanover County in a move that environmentalists hope means greater protection from possible pollution from a nearby power plant.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources says Sutton Lake, which receives coal ash wastewater discharges from Duke Energy Progress’s Sutton Steam Plant off US 421 in New Hanover County, is now considered “waters of the state.” That means the lake will be protected by more stringent water quality standards.

“This is what we have been fighting for for more than a year to get Sutton Lake the protection it deserves,” said Frank Holleman, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “It’s an important regional fishing lake. Until today Duke and DENR have treated it as a wastewater lagoon, which has polluted it with selenium, causing the death of hundreds of thousands of fish.”

As a result of the reclassification, DENR gave Duke Energy 60 days to modify its wastewater discharge permit and how the utility manages on-site stormwater. The reclassification may also mean additional treatment conditions are placed in the discharge permit or other environmental permits will be required in the future to ensure the health of the lake.

“The decision to reclassify Sutton Lake came about after we conducted a thorough review of the environment at all of North Carolina’s coal ash facilities,” said Tom Reeder, director of the NC Division of Water Resources, in a news release.

The lake’s reclassification also led to a change in the state’s hazard classification for two dams that are part of the coal ash basins, where Holleman says more than six million tons of coal ash is stored, right next to the lake. The classifications will be raised to high hazard due to the potential environmental damage to “waters of the state” if either dam were to fail, DENR said.

The move to reclassify Sutton Lake came a day after the Division of Water Resources announced it had ordered Duke Energy to resubmit its proposal for assessing the extent of groundwater contamination leaking from 33 coal ash dumps across the state after deeming the company’s current plans “inadequate.” Duke has 30 days to follow through.