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Duke Energy company will be pleading guilty and accepting it charges in the August 2014 spill case.
The Duke Energy company will be pleading guilty and accepting the charges it has received in the case related to the fuel spill which took place in August 2014.
Duke Energy is an electric power holding company based in Charlotte, North Carolina and which was founded in 1904.
The company provides both traditional energy sources, such as oil and gas fuels, as well as alternative energy. Their alternative energy sources include wind and solar power. The company also administers nuclear power plants.
Duke Energy gained an infamous reputation back in 2014 after the company had two oil spill incidents. As a result of the environmentally dangerous incidents, the company was sued and has been facing legal charges.
The company recently announced that it will be pleading guilty in relation to the August spilling accident. It also stated that it will be paying and contributing to all the actions carried out in relation to said spill.
As such, Duke Energy will be paying a $1 million fine as it violated the Clean Water Act. It will also be contributing with a $100,000 sum to the Foundation for Ohio River Education program.
These are all measures taken as part of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio plea agreement.
According to Duke statements, the company has already paid about $950,000 to other private and governmental entities. The sum was meant as a reimbursement of the costs generated by the spill.
In a statement released early Tuesday morning, Duke Energy stated its wish to put the incident behind it and continue moving forwards.
The company hopes that this plea agreement will help contribute to their wish.
Duke pointed out the fact that following the Beckjord, Ohio facility incident, the company took some immediate measures.
After publicly apologizing for the incident, the company took full responsibility and was quick to respond and implicate in the ensuing operations.
The operations, carried out by dozens of federal and state authorities, meant to make sure that both the environment and the people remained safe and protected.
On August 15, 2014 a Beckford facility worker which was transferring oil in between tanks did not stop alimentation after the tank reached its filling point.
As a result, an approximated 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel overflowed and spilled into the Ohio River. The incident was not the first to affect the company and came just six months after another accident.
In February 2014, one of the Duke Energy North Carolina storm-water pipes collapsed and led to an even more serious spill.
The more widespread environmental spill took place in the Dan River Steam Station.
The storm-water pipe was situated under the factory’s main coal ash pond which led to an about 39,000 tons of toxic ash spill.
Similar to its August spill case, Duke Energy pleaded guilty in relation to nine misdemeanors from the Clean Water Act Violations.
It also pleaded in guilty in relation to other environmental issues at other coal plants situated in North Carolina.
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