Coal Ash Spill
In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014 photo, Amber Skiles, a contractor with the Environmental Protection Agency labels water samples from the Dan River as state and federal environmental officials continued their investigations of a spill of coal ash in Eden, N.C. Over the last year, environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps. Each time, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has effectively halted the lawsuit by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority to take enforcement action. In two cases, the state has proposed modest fines but no requirement that the nation’s largest electricity provider actually clean up the coal ash ponds. The third case is pending. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)