Coal Ash Impoundment Compliance Register

PROBLEM: On 14 May 2015 three Duke Energy subsidiaries pleaded guilty to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act and were sentenced to pay $102 million — a $68 million criminal fine plus $34 million for environmental projects and land conservation — after the February 2014 Dan River coal-ash spill of about 39,000 tons and other coal-ash discharges at North Carolina facilities. The plea also required two subsidiaries to certify they had reserved sufficient assets, estimated at about $3.4 billion, to meet legal obligations for their coal-ash impoundments.

SOLUTION: An IBM Cloud Ideas compliance improvement that maintains a coal-ash impoundment compliance register: each impoundment's inspection, discharge, repair and closure obligation is recorded with its evidence and deadline, so regulators and operators share one auditable record of what was reserved, inspected and remediated.

EVIDENCE BASIS: DOCUMENTED — DOJ/EPA, 14 May 2015: Duke Energy subsidiaries pleaded guilty to nine Clean Water Act violations, $102M ($68M fine + $34M environmental projects); Feb 2014 Dan River spill ~39,000 tons; ~$3.4B reserved for impoundment obligations.