NC Concrete Industry Considers Other States, Countries To Fill Ash Shortage

Duke Energy continues to clean up potentially toxic coal ash sites across North Carolina. But even more of the waste is on its way. An Ohio company has won approval to store ash imported from India.

Coal-burning power plants in North Carolina produce millions of tons of waste each year. Some of it is reprocessed and turned into fly ash, which is used in concrete. But there's not enough of it to go around. That's because more plants are needed to recycle the waste.

Caroline Sutton, with the Carolina's Ready Mixed Concrete Association based in Charlotte, says it's a problem up and down the East Coast.

“There are producers, whether it's DOT work or private work, that need fly ash. They simply can't get enough to do the work on the docket,” she says. “We've also seen a move away from coal as a fuel by Duke Energy and other power companies, which has increased demand for fly ash.

Sutton says North Carolina concrete producers will have no choice but to turn to other states and countries to get the fly ash they need.

According to the News and Observer, the Council of State on Tuesday approved a two-year warehouse lease with a company called Spartan to store 150,000 tons of fly ash imported from India at the state port in Morehead City. A North Carolina Ports official said the ash will go to concrete plants.

North Carolina is not the first state to face the irony of importing coal ash as it grapples with disposing of the industrial waste, according to the article.

Shipping containers of ash from China, Poland and India have come into Virginia, the Associated Press reported, as foreign companies find U.S. markets.

But North Carolina could soon have a way to help fix its fly ash shortage. Lawmakers have ordered Duke Energy to build three new facilities that would recycle its old ash already stored in basins for industry use.

The company says those plants will be built in Salisbury, Goldsboro and Moncure. They're expected to be online in the next two to three years.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news