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Board Considers Water Line For Neighbors Of Coal Ash Ponds

Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service take core samples from the Dan River following the 2014 coal ash spill. Photo from USFWS via Flickr, http://bit.ly/2qpq4XE

A county board could OK an agreement with Duke Energy Corp. for a multi-million-dollar water line. The company is required to provide the line to neighbors of coal ash ponds.

The Rowan County Board of Commissioners scheduled a discussion on the water line to be built near the Buck Steam Station for their meeting on Monday. The line will cover more than 150 homes, with an expected cost of almost $5 million.

A state law requires Duke Energy to install either new municipal water lines or a household water treatment system to homes within a half-mile of coal ash sites. The Salisbury Post reports the installation deadline is October 2018.

It's been more than three years since liquefied coal ash containing arsenic, lead, mercury and other heavy metals spilled from a Duke Energy plant into the Dan River along the Virginia line.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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