An administrative judge ruled Friday that the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has the authority to order Duke Energy Corp. to excavate coal-ash ponds at six coal plants, rejecting Duke’s motion to dismiss the April 1 order.
The order by Selina Malherbe of the N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings is a preliminary ruling that sets out what authority DEQ has under the state’s 2014 Coal Ash Management Act. It does not decide the merits of Duke’s appeal of the orders. But the state and the…
