From Basinger CoreyTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele

Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay

estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin updateDate Saturday February 15 2014 122442 PM

Saturday 15 February update (1215am)

middot Due to weather conditions on Friday very little was happening on the site I visited the site in the morning and had nothing new to report thus no morning update

middot I visited 2 of our 3 sampling sites to determine if it was safe for WSRO to resume sampling These 2 sampling points still had considerable snow and ice accumulations Snowy and icy conditions near the water are unsafe conditions for staff Based on rising temperatures and sunny conditions today we hope to be able to resume sampling on Sunday

middot I received a request from DWR management mid-afternoon yesterday to conduct sampling on the 36rdquo stormwater pipe identified in the DEMLR correspondence following their review of the pipe video WSRO staff conducted this sampling beginning at approximately 430pm The samples are being delivered to the State Lab this morning

middot 3 sites were sampled (1) the outlet of the 36rdquo pipe (2) the inlet of the 36rdquo pipe and (3) a completely separate stormwater pipe

middot The sampling parameters at these 3 locations will match those collected in the river over the past 2 weeks

middot Work continues to permanently plug (groutconcrete) the entire length of the 48rdquo pipemiddot Due to a significant increase in river flow the ash deposit removal work has been suspended

for safety The plan is to resume on Sunday if river flow subsidesmiddot I will provide updates moving forward as I have new information middot EPA Community meetings are scheduled for Wednesday in Eden NC and Thursday in South

Boston Va Both meetings are scheduled to begin at 630pmmiddot Sherri Knight will be at the site on Sunday and Monday I will be available via email and

celltext if needed but plan to take a couple days away to get some much needed rest

Many thanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630

E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Thursday February 13 2014 722 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update Thursday 13 February update (720pm)

middot No new developments today due to wintry weathermiddot I was in contact with EPA multiple times throughout the day They had nothing new to

reportmiddot Duke released a press statement today regarding the unpermitted wastewater dischargemiddot DENR issued a press release with regard to the unpermitted wastewater discharge as well as

addressing the ldquoorangerdquo stained rocksmiddot WSRO staff did not collect any samples todaymiddot We will evaluate our ability to sample on Friday This will depend on weather and road

conditions Staff safety will continue to be of paramount concernmiddot I plan to make every effort to visit the site tomorrow at some point I will keep everyone

posted on whether or not I am able to do somiddot I hope everyone stayed safe and warm today during the winter storm We received about 6

inches of snow followed by about frac14 ldquo of sleet followed by 4rdquo of snow The sun came out late afternoon about 4pm

middot Many thanks to everyone who worked diligently today to continue the Divisionrsquos efforts throughout the winter storm

middot Also I greatly appreciate all the encouragement from so many of you during this process It has been exhausting for me as I am certain it has been for all of you

ThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630

E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Wednesday February 12 2014 635 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Wednesday 12 February update (6pm)

middot Due to the wintry weather most operations ceased at the site this afternoonmiddot It is my understanding that work will continue in the pipemiddot The process to remove the ash deposit from the river continued until such time as it

became unsafe Work will commence again once conditions will safely allowmiddot A question was asked at the meeting last night about ldquoorange rocksrdquo near the spill site

Further investigations by EPA during the day today confirmed this to be a stormwater outfall that had an accumulation of what EPA determined to be iron bacteria or iron residue thus the ldquoorangerdquo color They did collect both surface water and sediment samples to verify their conclusions DWR will also sample this location to further confirm those conclusions at the first opportunity

middot Duke representatives reported an issue with the ldquopipe aroundrdquo system yesterday to me via phone at about 530pm Due to poor cell signal I was unable to clearly understand the information and asked for email clarification I received that this morning and asked for additional clarification and had a phone conversation with Duke staff This is complicated to explain in an email so I will be glad to discuss with anyone via phone The discharge was less than 1000 gallons in their estimation and was ceased immediately upon notice The discharge was from the emergency pipe around system that carries yard drainage sump drainage and TREATED effluent from the WWTP Duke will issue a press statement tomorrow regarding the incident

middot I participated in the EPA Command briefing conference call at 3pm They are all hold up in the hotel for the night and tomorrow I will be in constant contact with EPA Incident Command and also with all of you

middot I do not anticipate WSRO staff collecting the tenth round of sampling Thursday This decision is reflective of the weather and travel conditions In the Governorrsquos press conference today he asked everyone to stay off the roads unless it was an emergency Staff safety continues to be of paramount concern

middot If there are new developments overnight or early tomorrow morning I will provide an update prior to noon If not I will provide a single update in the evening

middot I will be available 247 via email and celltext 704-507-8109Many thanks for everyonersquos assistance I hope you are all safely homeCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Wednesday February 12 2014 1029 AMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Wednesday 12 February update (1030am)

Activities to remove the ash deposit from the river is underway and will continue until the weather becomes unsafeWork continues with respect to plugging the remainder of the pipeWSRO staff has suspended sampling today due to winter weather The safety of staff is of paramount concern and slipperyicy conditions in and around the water is not conducive to safe conditions Driving conditions will also deteriorate quickly as the winter storm progresses Thursday and Friday sampling will be evaluated each morning pending existing conditionsEPA hosted a Community Meeting in Danville Va from 630 to ~845pm Dianne Reid Sherri Knight and myself attended on behalf of NC DENR My notes are as follows

1 Regulatory agencies present EPA NC DENR Va DEQ Va Dept of Health US FishWildlife Danville WaterSewer Danville local health director

2 Virginias Secretary of the Environment was present3 Virginias Public Health Director was present4 EPA made a 20 minute presentation on what happened how it happened what the emergency response has

been what sampling is being conducted (drinking water surface water sediment) long term remediation plans being developed etc

5 The remainder of the time was allocated for QampA6 The bulk of the questions were related to (1) drinking water safety (2) water recreation safety (3) fish

consumption safety (4) private well water safety (5) access to informationdata (6) ash basin dam safety (7) long term remediation plans (8) policy regarding ash ponds in general (9) closeout plans for this ash basin and others

7 There were many environmental groups represented including SELC Dan River Basin Association Appalachian Voices River Keepers and others

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Wednesday February 12 2014 1029 AMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Wednesday 12 February update (1030am)

Activities to remove the ash deposit from the river is underway and will continue until the weather becomes unsafeWork continues with respect to plugging the remainder of the pipeWSRO staff has suspended sampling today due to winter weather The safety of staff is of paramount concern and slipperyicy conditions in and around the water is not conducive to safe conditions Driving conditions will also deteriorate quickly as the winter storm progresses Thursday and Friday sampling will be evaluated each morning pending existing conditionsEPA hosted a Community Meeting in Danville Va from 630 to ~845pm Dianne Reid Sherri Knight and myself attended on behalf of NC DENR My notes are as follows

1 Regulatory agencies present EPA NC DENR Va DEQ Va Dept of Health US FishWildlife Danville WaterSewer Danville local health director

2 Virginias Secretary of the Environment was present3 Virginias Public Health Director was present4 EPA made a 20 minute presentation on what happened how it happened what the emergency response has

been what sampling is being conducted (drinking water surface water sediment) long term remediation plans being developed etc

5 The remainder of the time was allocated for QampA6 The bulk of the questions were related to (1) drinking water safety (2) water recreation safety (3) fish

consumption safety (4) private well water safety (5) access to informationdata (6) ash basin dam safety (7) long term remediation plans (8) policy regarding ash ponds in general (9) closeout plans for this ash basin and others

7 There were many environmental groups represented including SELC Dan River Basin Association Appalachian Voices River Keepers and others

8 I answered a question about the notification and initial response I detailed the facts Duke notified Emergency Response Center Sunday evening WSRO was notified Monday morning by Duke staff WSRO staff immediately dispatched staff to site and have had a presence on site since that initial response I indicated that we are internally evaluating the delay in communication from Emergency Response Center to WSRO and will have measure in place to ensure that this delay does not occur in the future

9 It was made clear by EPA that NC DENR contacted them on Monday afternoon and requested additional resources on site

10 Dianne answered a question about fish tissue analysis and how we are working with State Epidemiologist Also working to develop a long term sampling plan

The Eden Community meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday at 630pm Based on questions posed and comments made at the Danville meeting I would suggest representatives from DEMLR (dam safety and stormwater) DENR PIO PWS and someone familiar with the GW issuesWill be working with management and ESS to evaluate sampling activities moving forward I am working from home today but am in direct contact with the Command Center at the Duke site I have several scheduled conference calls throughout the day to stay abreast of all activities being conducted today and plans for tomorrow I can be reached 247 on my cell 704-507-8109I will provide an evening update following the regular 630pm briefing

Dianne please add any additional information or make any changesThanksCorey

From Basinger CoreySent Tuesday February 11 2014 1138 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Tuesday 11 February update (1150pm)

Just returned home from the Danville Va Community Meeting hosted by EPADianne Reid Sherri Knight and myself attended on behalf of DWRI have many notes taken during the meeting and will consolidate them and provide a thorough summary in tomorrow mornings updateI am exhausted and need to get some sleepWill have update to you all by noon on Wednesday

ThanksCorey

From Basinger CoreySent Tuesday February 11 2014 1228 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay

estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Tuesday 11 February update (noon)

middot Video efforts stopped at roughly 20rsquo due to debris in the line Alternate methods are being evaluated

middot US Army Corps issued approval to move forward with the ash deposit removal DENR followed suit

middot GroutingConcreting of remainder of pipe will be done in 5 stages Plans are being prepared to accomplish this activity

middot Crews are mobilizing as I write this update to begin the ash deposit removal Process should begin around 2pm and continue through daylight hours

middot EPArsquos Community Meeting in Danville Va is going to take place (630-8pm) at City Council Chamber Dianne Reid Sherri Knight and I will be in attendance I am unaware of whether or not a DENR PIO will be present

middot Eden NC and South Boston Va have been postponed until next week due to predicted weather

middot WSRO staff collected the ninth round of samples at all 4 sampling sites and will deliver to State Lab

middot Weather conditions Wednesday will dictate whether or not WSRO staff will collect samples Safety is a top priority

middot Weather predictions are still for 6-12+ inches of snow between now and Thursday afternoon

There may not be an evening update due to the Danville meeting and the travel time afterward I will make an effort to summarize the meeting either late tonight or first thing in the morningMany thanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey

Sent Monday February 10 2014 810 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update Monday 10 February update (8pm)

Video camera will be inserted in the pipe at the failure site to collect information on the pipe from the failure point to the permanent plug at the river Once the video is evaluated and assessed final plans for groutingconcreting the remainder of the pipe can be completed and implementedAdditional booms were added in the river at the ash deposit near the discharge pipe as a secondary measure to prevent migration of the materialUS Army Corps will be on site on Tuesday 11 February to evaluate the plan for removalWSRO collected the eighth round of sampling at all 4 locations this morning and delivered them to the labDianne Reid will be visiting the site at 130pm on Tuesday 11 February We will be meeting with EPA and taking a tour of the site and the DENR sampling locations We will also attend the Community Meeting scheduled by EPA in Danville Va Tuesday night from 630 - 8pm The Community Meetings in Eden NC and South Boston Va have been rescheduled due to predicted adverse winter weatherWSRO staff will collect the ninth round of sampling on Tuesday 11 February and deliver to State Lab The adverse weather is not predicted to arrive until late nightWeather predictions are for 6-12+ inches of snow arriving late Tuesday nightearly Wednesday morning The snowfall is predicted to continue throughout the day Wednesday and into early ThursdayI will be on site all day on Tuesday 11 February I should arrive around 830am

ThanksCorey

From Basinger CoreySent Monday February 10 2014 849 AMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman Jay estottcorockinghamncusSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Monday 10 February update (9am)

The pipe failure area was located in the excavation They are moving forward with setting the trench boxes and will begin to groutconcrete the remaining length of pipe This process may take several days as there is over 800 of pipe left to groutconcretePlans should be finalized this morning with regard to the removal of the ash deposit near the discharge pipe US Army Corps of Engineers is directly involved in this process I hope to have a formal plan to report in the evening updateWSRO staff will be collecting the eighth round of sampling at all 4 locations this morning and deliver them to the labI will be unavailable from 930am to 11am as I will be on a conference call with the Secretary and

the Director If it is an emergency and you need to reach me please send me an email or text and include the word emergency in the message 704-507-8109 I will get back with you ASAPI will be available the remainder of the day following the conference call

Many thanksCorey

From Basinger CoreySent Sunday February 09 2014 950 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Zimmerman JaySubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Sunday 9 February update (945pm)

Work continues in an effort to excavate the pipe so that groutingconcreting of the entire remaining pipe can commenceWSRO staff collected the seventh round of samples today and delivered them to the State labDuke staff are developing a plan to remove a deposit of ash near the discharge pipe They are working closely with the US Army Corps of Engineers DENR EPA and US Fish and Wildlife to develop a viable plan to remove this material in a manner that will have the least impact on the habitat and downstream waters I met with a representative of the Dan River Basin Association today to provide details of our efforts answer her questions and assure her that all regulatory agencies are working tirelessly and cooperatively to ensure that Duke Energy continues the progress they have made to resolve this problem and restore the natural resources EPA and Duke representatives also attended this meetingI met with Rep Pricey Harrison for about 2 hours today She requested a tour of the site and a briefing on the efforts to date with respect to the States efforts to document and resolve this issue I provided her a full accounting of DENRs efforts EPA and Duke representatives also attended this meeting I also drove her to one of our downstream sampling locations so she could view the river close up She was appreciative of our efforts and the time we spent providing her with information answers and future plansI left the site early this evening to take care of some matters at home I will be unavailable on Monday morning from 930 am to 11am I will be on a conference call with the Secretary and the Director Should you need to reach me please send me an email or text I will respond as quickly as possible I will be in direct contact with the EPA On-Site Coordinator first thing in the morning and following the conference call Should I need to return to the site on Monday I will do so If not I will return to the site on TuesdayI plan to be at the site and the Community Meetings Tuesday Wednesday and ThursdayPlease dont hesitate to contact me at any point at 704-507-8109

ThanksCorey

From Basinger CoreySent Sunday February 09 2014 1111 AMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew

Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Edwin Stott ltestottcorockinghamncusgt (estottcorockinghamncus)Subject Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Sunday 9 February update (11am)

middot Work continues to excavate the pipe so that groutingconcreting of the entire remaining pipe can commence

middot WSRO staff collected the sixth round of daily samples on Saturday and delivered directly to State lab I failed to include this in the Saturday updates

middot A deposit of ash has been identified by EPA and Duke immediately downstream from the discharge pipe It has been estimated to be ~300 cubic yards Assessment and planning are underway to develop a plan to remove this material US Army Corps of Engineers is in the communication loop as is the Statersquos 401 staff EPA is directing this activity from two perspectives (1) the ash deposit should be removed and is easily accessible and (2) it is an excellent opportunity to test the techniqueequipment for potential use in other areas

middot WSRO staff are collecting the seventh round of samples today (Sunday) and will deliver directly to the State lab

middot WSRO will continue to monitor the 4 locations (1 upstream and 3 downstream) until further notice

middot I will be meeting with Rep Pricey Harrison at 2pm today My evening update will provide details of this visit

middot Attached are a few photos of the identified ash depositmiddot Community briefings are being tentatively scheduled this week by EPA in Danville Va

(Tuesday) Eden NC (Wednesday) and South Boston Va (Thursday) All meeting will begin at 630pm NC DENR representatives have been invited along with Virginia DEQ I will make plans to attend but request that an ESS representative also be present to address any concerns about the NC sample analyses and results

middot I plan to go home tonight Following a conference call with the Secretary and Director on Monday morning I plan to return to the site

Many thanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be

Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Edwin Stott ltestottcorockinghamncusgt (estottcorockinghamncus)Subject Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Sunday 9 February update (11am)

middot Work continues to excavate the pipe so that groutingconcreting of the entire remaining pipe can commence

middot WSRO staff collected the sixth round of daily samples on Saturday and delivered directly to State lab I failed to include this in the Saturday updates

middot A deposit of ash has been identified by EPA and Duke immediately downstream from the discharge pipe It has been estimated to be ~300 cubic yards Assessment and planning are underway to develop a plan to remove this material US Army Corps of Engineers is in the communication loop as is the Statersquos 401 staff EPA is directing this activity from two perspectives (1) the ash deposit should be removed and is easily accessible and (2) it is an excellent opportunity to test the techniqueequipment for potential use in other areas

middot WSRO staff are collecting the seventh round of samples today (Sunday) and will deliver directly to the State lab

middot WSRO will continue to monitor the 4 locations (1 upstream and 3 downstream) until further notice

middot I will be meeting with Rep Pricey Harrison at 2pm today My evening update will provide details of this visit

middot Attached are a few photos of the identified ash depositmiddot Community briefings are being tentatively scheduled this week by EPA in Danville Va

(Tuesday) Eden NC (Wednesday) and South Boston Va (Thursday) All meeting will begin at 630pm NC DENR representatives have been invited along with Virginia DEQ I will make plans to attend but request that an ESS representative also be present to address any concerns about the NC sample analyses and results

middot I plan to go home tonight Following a conference call with the Secretary and Director on Monday morning I plan to return to the site

Many thanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be

disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Saturday February 08 2014 826 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid Dianne Edwin Stott ltestottcorockinghamncusgt (estottcorockinghamncus)Subject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Saturday 8 February update (815pm)

middot So much for getting some sleep Cell phone began ringing at 1030ammiddot I arrived on site at 1145ammiddot There has been no further discharge from the pipemiddot All heavy equipment operations ceased at the site today until the 430pm engineering

inspection of the pipe plug Engineers gave the thumbs up that the plug was cured and work could begin again to uncover the actual pipe failure Once the area is excavated the process of groutingconcreting the entire remainder of the pipe will commence (probably Monday)

middot Now that the discharge has completely ceased regulatory focus has shifted to data collection and analysis (both short term and long term) and remediation efforts (short term and long term)

middot Efforts were conducted today to locate ldquopocketsrdquo of ash in the river that may have the potential to be removed Evaluations are under way

middot Sen Mike Woodard (CaswellPerson Co) visited site today at 4pm He toured the site with Duke reps EPA and myself I briefed him on DENRrsquos immediate response and ongoing efforts both at the site and with sampling I echoed both the Governorrsquos and the Secretaryrsquos earlier comments that DENR has and will continue to mobilize all available resources to not only assess this situation but to work to restore the natural resources

middot I had planned to go home today but meetings ran long tonight and Rep Pricey Harrison is arriving for a tour tomorrow so I decided to stay another night

middot Aside from Rep Harrisonrsquos visit tomorrow my counterparts and I will be focusing on the short and long term remediation plans

middot I will continue to provide updates as I have themmiddot Many thanks to all those who have assisted me in this process Your efforts and timeliness

have proven to be most helpfulThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources

Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Saturday February 08 2014 515 AMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid DianneSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update Saturday 8 February update (455am)

middot Itrsquos been a long time since I pulled an all-nighter but this one was worth itmiddot The bulkhead and the end cap were set in place shortly after midnightmiddot The bulkhead was set approximately 27 feet into the pipemiddot Groutconcrete began to be pumped in the pipe at approximately 3ammiddot The groutconcrete pumping process was completed at 430ammiddot The groutconcrete will require 6-12 hours to cureset upmiddot Assuming proper cureset up there will now be a 27rsquo plug in the pipe at the river endmiddot Once this is assured to be stable and permanent the remaining entire length of pipe will be

filled with groutconcretemiddot I am going to bed and try to sleep for a couple hours I will send another report once I have

had some restThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey

Sent Friday February 07 2014 1050 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker Michele Munger BridgetCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid DianneSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Friday 7 February (1045pm)

middot The installation of the plug is proposed to begin at approximately 100ammiddot A photo of the bulkhead to create the plug is attachedmiddot Brief description of how the bulkhead will work The bulkhead (photo1) that is very slightly

smaller than the 48rdquo pipe Outside the bulkhead is attached a tractor tire inner tube This inner tube will be inflated to create a seal against the concrete pipe The bulkhead is on caster wheels and will be pushed approximately 44rsquo into the pipe from the river side An open pipe in the bulkhead will allow water to pass through during the installation phase The steel cable will be attached to the cap that will be attached to the end of the pipe (at the river) As groutconcrete is pumped into the void between the wood form and the end cap the cable will keep the two in place so the groutconcrete can set up This should create the concrete plug in the pipe to finally plugseal the pipe and cease the discharge

middot A long rake was fabricated (photo attached) to rake any debris from the pipe This debris will be bagged and properly disposed prior to insertion of the bulkhead

middot At approximately 7pm an increase in the discharge was observed into the sandbagpump around Rather than risk pressure building up in the pipe the sandbag was removed A short term discharge occurred but flow quickly returned to a small amount This small amount of discharge will not hamper the efforts to commence plugging at 1am

middot The complete MondayTuesday sample data has been summarized and releasedmiddot A planning meeting with all parties conducting water sampling resulted in a better

understanding of what data is being collected and where it is being collected Very productive meeting

middot Virginia DEQ now has a presence on the site I am coordinating with him to make sure we are sharing information and providing support to each other

middot I plan to be on site during the plug process If work begins on schedule at 1am the entire process is expected to be completed by 3am

middot I say a prayer that my next report to you will be that the pipe is plugged Many thanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgov

Phone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Friday February 07 2014 528 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker MicheleCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Reid DianneSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Friday 7 February update (5pm)

middot My apologies for such a late update I have been extremely busy with meetings both on-site and off-site today

middot I attended a public outreach meeting in Danville Va today at 1pm The Danville Community Leader Meeting was conducted by Duke Energy staff in order to provide the City of Danville leaders and public with information about the spill and the measures being taken to resolve the problem and remediate the river I did not speak at the meeting and was there along with EPA as a resource from the regulatory perspective Following the meeting I did speak with a Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors member who asked about the NPDES permit for the facility His question was not adequately answered during the meeting so I approached him following the meeting introduced myself and provided my contact information and informed him that I would get the answer to his question to him as quickly as possible We spoke briefly about the level of cooperation and coordination between the City of Danville DENR EPA and Va DEQ He was appreciative of my effort to assist him

middot Work continues toward completion of the pipe plug I will have more information in my evening update following the 630pm briefing

middot We continue to have NO discharge from the pipe as a result of the sandbagpump around system

middot WSRO conducted the fifth round of sampling at all 3 locations Samples were delivered directly to the lab

middot Coordination and planning between the WSRO sampling staff and the Lab were confirmed for Saturday and Sunday sampling and analysis

middot ESS staff visited site and began sediment assessment in the river Dianne Reid and Jason Green are coordinating these activities I did meet briefly with Jason Green and his crew when they arrived They will also coordinate with EPA and USFWS on these activities

middot DENR public relations staff Cathy Akroyd and Charlie Peek attended the Danville meeting and returned with me to the site to assist in coordination of DENR public relations from the site

middot I will continue to stay at the site and coordinate DENR efforts until further notice I will provide a more detailed update this evening Again my apologies for the delay in this update

I can always be reached via email and celltext 704-507-8109ThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Thursday February 06 2014 1035 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker MicheleCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang ShuyingSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update Thursday 6 February update (1030pm)

middot At 6pm work began on creating a small sandbag dam inside the river end of the 48rdquo pipe in order to capture the small flow of clear discharge A small pump was installed behind the dam to pump the water up into a small tank and then back to the basin

middot At 7pm discharge from the 48rdquo pipe ceased (photo attached)middot Work continues with excavation of the pipe failure area Dewatering will followmiddot Once site is dewatered a trench box will be set in place Plugging the pipe with

groutconcrete will be conducted inside this trench boxmiddot The process is expected to be completed during the day on Fridaymiddot Following successful plugging of the pipe failure the remainder of the pipe to the river will

be filled with groutconcretemiddot WSRO collected the fourth round of surface water samples and delivered to the DWR Lab

for analysis We continue to modify our sampling efforts to provide the best possible assessment of current surface water quality

middot NC DENR published the initial sample results for the Monday and Tuesday samples along with a summary of these results Additional results will be published as they become available

middot WSRO staff and ESSChemistry Lab staff have coordinated a weekend sampling schedule Tom Reeder approved this plan at 620pm

middot

I can always be reached via email and celltext 704-507-8109ThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Thursday February 06 2014 1035 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker MicheleCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang ShuyingSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update Thursday 6 February update (1030pm)

middot At 6pm work began on creating a small sandbag dam inside the river end of the 48rdquo pipe in order to capture the small flow of clear discharge A small pump was installed behind the dam to pump the water up into a small tank and then back to the basin

middot At 7pm discharge from the 48rdquo pipe ceased (photo attached)middot Work continues with excavation of the pipe failure area Dewatering will followmiddot Once site is dewatered a trench box will be set in place Plugging the pipe with

groutconcrete will be conducted inside this trench boxmiddot The process is expected to be completed during the day on Fridaymiddot Following successful plugging of the pipe failure the remainder of the pipe to the river will

be filled with groutconcretemiddot WSRO collected the fourth round of surface water samples and delivered to the DWR Lab

for analysis We continue to modify our sampling efforts to provide the best possible assessment of current surface water quality

middot NC DENR published the initial sample results for the Monday and Tuesday samples along with a summary of these results Additional results will be published as they become available

middot WSRO staff and ESSChemistry Lab staff have coordinated a weekend sampling schedule Tom Reeder approved this plan at 620pm

middot

ESS staff will be collecting sediment samples and potentially benthic studies on Friday They will coordinate with US Fish and Wildlife staff to provide the best possible coverage

middot Coordination will all DENR sections continues to be most helpful All requests for assistance have been met quickly and with highest level of oversight

middot Work continues on establishing a long term monitoringsampling plan US EPA NC DENR-DWR Duke US FishWildlife Virginia DEQ have been involved

middot Next meeting is 630am Will provide update as soon as new information is available Thanks Corey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Thursday February 06 2014 422 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Massengale Susan Kritzer Jamie Elliot Drew Walker MicheleCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang ShuyingSubject FW Duke Energy Ash Basin update Thursday 6 February update (4pm)

middot Efforts continue to establish a working platform (stone) for heavy equipment near pipe failure Once complete excavation can commence Once excavation is complete sump can be lowered into area to pump water from working area to another part of basin A trench box will be lowered to create a safe working space

middot Plan is to fill pipe with groutconcrete to establish a plugmiddot Equipment is on site and connected for yard sump (Granulated Carbon Filter) discharge in

compliance with modified NPDES permit System has not been operated and will only be used if necessary

middot WSRO staff conducting fourth round of sampling and will deliver to DWR laboratory in Raleigh

middot DWR sample results for Monday and Tuesday are now available Results are being assessed and compared with data collected by other entities

middot Continue to work in conjunction with EPA US FishWildlife and Duke to safely and timely eliminate discharge and establish long term sampling and remediation

middot WSRO will continue sampling through the weekend and a staffing schedule has been established Contact with lab has been made to establish staff scheduling to conduct analyses over weekend

middot Attached photos show various views of the site on Feb 6th

middot Gov McCrory and Senior DENR staff visited the site early afternoonmiddot Next Operations and Command meeting at 630pm Will provide an update following that

meetingmiddot I am staying in nearby hotel until further notice to be closer to the site

ThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Wednesday February 05 2014 1126 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Presnell Lacy Massengale Susan Kritzer JamieCc Knight Sherri Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Snider Lon Wang Shuying Lewis StevenSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update Wednesday evening update

middot Dewatering of basin at pipe breach began at ~ 6pmmiddot Camera inserted in pipe starting at river end and have video of ~ 760rsquo of pipe No visual

evidence of any further pipe leaks or breaks in this section This is approximately half way across basin

middot Video shows pipe to be 13 to 14 full of debris

middot Plan to make 2nd attempt to plug pipe at failure point If unsuccessful will proceed with plan to plug from river side pending Army Corps of Engineers approval to install working pad onto riverbank and into river Corps meeting postponed until Thursday

middot Coordinated Sampling Plan nearly completed and to be implemented Thursday

middot System components on site and ready for assembly during the night for yard sump pump around as per newly issued NPDES permit modification

middot Stormwater pipe from wetland plugged and pump around to be completed through the night to the secondary ash basin

middot Where effortswork can be accomplished in parallel it is being done in an effort to expedite the processes

middot Media continue to visit site and are escorted by Duke PIO onto sitemiddot WSRO staff completed 3 round of samples at 3 locations (1 upstream 2 downstream)

Sample results from Mondayrsquos sample not yet availablemiddot Working closely with EPA Duke Energy and US Fish and Wildlife on sampling strategy both

immediate and long termmiddot I am attending all planning tactical and briefing meetings First meeting is at 630am and

last briefing is at 630pm middot Beginning Thursday my email updates will be provided to each of you twice per day mid-

morning and following the 630pm briefingmiddot US Fish and Wildlife conducted some sediment samples in the river in Va There is sediment

accumulated on the river bottom Photo attachedmiddot WSRO staff have formulated a weekend sampling schedule Plans are to continue to

sampling Saturday and Sundaymiddot I can be reached via email and celltext at 704-507-8109

Next email update will be mid-morning ThursdayThanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Wednesday February 05 2014 407 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Presnell Lacy Massengale Susan Kritzer JamieCc Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Poupart Jeff Knight Sherri Snider Lon Wang Shuying Lewis StevenSubject RE Duke Energy Ash Basin update

Wednesday 3pm update

middot Rain began late evening and continued throughout the night and into the early morningmiddot Rain ceased about 10ammiddot Late last night the work continued to excavate the pipe breach as indicated in my update

last evening Earthen material was placed in the basin to create a platform for heavy equipment and for work to commence on plugging the breach About 2am the earthen platform collapsed into the crater created by the initial pipe failure No injuries or equipment loss Earthen material actually plugged the pipe following the platform collapse At that point discharge to the river ceased This continued until approximately noon today

middot Around noon today a slight discharge was observed from the pipe This continues at this point and I have no flow rate to report at this point other than ldquoslightrdquo

middot Following the platform collapse plans have changed and the plan is now to plug the pipe from the river side Work inaround the river and riverbank will be necessary and the Army Corps of Engineers has been contacted

middot WSRO staff continue to conduct the sampling on the 3 sites in Rockingham County (1 upstream 2 downstream) We are currently awaiting sample results from Mondayrsquos samples This sampling will continue until further notice Weekend sampling will be conducted unless advised otherwise

middot WSRO Staff reported that turbidity at both downstream locations has returned to normal river conditions This is attributed to a cessation of the discharge at 2am WSRO Staff reported observing what appeared to be ash deposits in the river and along the riverbank Here is a quote from the staff ldquoHwy 700 boat landing- The water did not have the gray tint that it has had the past 2 days There was a noticeable gray film deposited on stream bank below the water line VANC line site- The gray deposits looked to be larger in area on the stream bank below the water level ldquo

middot I have contacted Danny Smith (RRO) and Dianne Reid (ESS) in order to secure additional resources should that be necessary now that plume has reached Kerr Lake Reservoir Both have offered to mobilize their resources when necessary

middot Meeting schedule here from Incident Command has changed My presence will be required from 630am (first daily mtg) to 630pm (last daily mtg) As such I will try to provide daily updates mid-morning and late evening

middot Emergency NPDES permit modification request was submitted at noon today for the yard sump discharge Permit modification was reviewed by Dr Sergei Chernikov and issued at 115pm today This rapid turnaround is much appreciated

middot Large 200rsquo crane is on site to lower 2000 gpm pump into basin to dewater area and further reduce or eliminate further discharge to river from ash basin

middot Work progresses at a rapid yet safe pacemiddot I will be staying in a local hotel moving forward I will be available via email and celltext

704-507-8109 at all times Will provide additional details as I have them Please email or call with questionsThanks

Corey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Tuesday February 04 2014 1031 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Presnell Lacy Massengale Susan Kritzer JamieCc Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Poupart Jeff Knight Sherri Snider Lon Wang Shuying Lewis StevenSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update The daily 630pm briefing notes are as follows

middot 12 members of the media attended the press conferenceinformation sessionphoto-op from 12-2pm today

middot the presence of DENRrsquos senior leadership was noted and appreciatedmiddot pipe breach was located and excavated by mid-afternoonmiddot video efforts inside the pipe were successful beginning around 330pmmiddot it was determined that a portion of the 48rdquo pipe under the basin is actually corrugated

metal (original assumption was that the entire pipe length was concrete) middot The pipe failed in the corrugated metal sectionmiddot Video of the first 120rsquo of pipe was completed Could not proceed past the pipe failure due

to the pipe having dropped an estimated 12rsquo vertically (camera is unable to travel vertically only horizontally)

middot Efforts will commence tomorrow to video the pipe starting from the river side and working back toward the failure to make certain that no other cracks breaks or failures exist

middot Working through the night the plan is to excavate around the breach install a safety trench box build a bulk head form on both sides of pipe install pipes and vents to be used to fill remainder of pipe after initial groutconcrete plug is in place and then finally install groutconcrete plug Water will be pumped out of the work area to another part of the basin This will also reduce significantly the discharge to the river

middot Once groutconcrete plug is in place and has set up the discharge will cease Efforts to completely fill the entire pipe with groutconcrete will commence Once entire pipe is filled with groutconcrete the trench box will be filled with concrete as an additional measure at

Corey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties

From Basinger Corey Sent Tuesday February 04 2014 1031 PMTo Reeder Tom Skvarla John Gillespie Mitch Presnell Lacy Massengale Susan Kritzer JamieCc Zimmerman Jay Matthews Matt Poupart Jeff Knight Sherri Snider Lon Wang Shuying Lewis StevenSubject Duke Energy Ash Basin update The daily 630pm briefing notes are as follows

middot 12 members of the media attended the press conferenceinformation sessionphoto-op from 12-2pm today

middot the presence of DENRrsquos senior leadership was noted and appreciatedmiddot pipe breach was located and excavated by mid-afternoonmiddot video efforts inside the pipe were successful beginning around 330pmmiddot it was determined that a portion of the 48rdquo pipe under the basin is actually corrugated

metal (original assumption was that the entire pipe length was concrete) middot The pipe failed in the corrugated metal sectionmiddot Video of the first 120rsquo of pipe was completed Could not proceed past the pipe failure due

to the pipe having dropped an estimated 12rsquo vertically (camera is unable to travel vertically only horizontally)

middot Efforts will commence tomorrow to video the pipe starting from the river side and working back toward the failure to make certain that no other cracks breaks or failures exist

middot Working through the night the plan is to excavate around the breach install a safety trench box build a bulk head form on both sides of pipe install pipes and vents to be used to fill remainder of pipe after initial groutconcrete plug is in place and then finally install groutconcrete plug Water will be pumped out of the work area to another part of the basin This will also reduce significantly the discharge to the river

middot Once groutconcrete plug is in place and has set up the discharge will cease Efforts to completely fill the entire pipe with groutconcrete will commence Once entire pipe is filled with groutconcrete the trench box will be filled with concrete as an additional measure at

the failure locationmiddot Video of the other 36rdquo stormwater pipe that is installed under the lower end of the basin

will be commence on Wednesdaymiddot There is only one other DukeProgress facility that has a similar stormwater pipe

configuration under the basin but it is not in NC (Indiana I think) middot In the interim the yard sump water that co-mingles with stormwater will need to be re-

routed away from the basin An emergency NPDES permit modification request will be submitted at some point on Wednesday to request that this wastewaterstormwater be re-routed and passed through a Granulated Activated Carbon filter system and then discharged to the river EPA suggested this process and has experience with noted success in other similar situations Matt Matthews and Jeff Poupart were notified that this request would be forthcoming If the request is complete and meets requirements the hope is that an expedited review and issuance will be possible

middot EPA will have a Technical Expert for sediment contamination on site on Wednesdaymiddot US Fish and Wildlife will be conducting sampling and also be involved in long term

remediationmiddot Plume has traveled past South Boston water intake (Va) and is approximately 4-5 miles from

the Kerr Lake Reservoirmiddot Danville Water Plant has not had any problems being able to treat and provide safe drinking

water I receive an update from our PWS staff each daymiddot WSRO staff will continue to conduct sampling at the 3 sites (1 upstream 2 downstream)

Additional parameters will be added to mirror the sampling being conducted by Duke staff EPA may conduct similar sampling in Va

middot I will continue to attend all daily briefings (1230pm and 630pm each day) I will also attend the conference call at 8am each day

middot I will make every effort to provide a daily summary or more frequent updates as milestones are reached

Please share with those individuals that I may not have included in the email list Many thanksCorey

W Corey Basinger Regional SupervisorWater Quality Regional OperationsWinston-Salem Regional OfficeDivision of Water Resources Email coreybasingerncdenrgovPhone (336) 771-5000Fax (336) 771-4630 E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties