Bryan Brice: A Responsibility to the Environment

In 2014, a stormwater pipe burst beneath a Duke Energy coal-fired power plant along the Dan River in Eden, North Carolina, near the Virginia border. It sent 39,000 tons of coal ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated water down the Dan. “Jones and Spurlock, were instrumental in helping us represent 90% of the property owners along the river.”

“The extent and harm caused by the decades of Duke Energy dumping of coal ash was devastating to our clients’ properties,” said Brice. “Cathy and I went to Eden many times in the course of the case and saw it firsthand.”

Coal ash contains mercury, lead, arsenic, and other chemicals that can be harmful to human health, causing cancer, kidney damage, cardiac arrhythmia, and other illnesses. “The dumping of coal ash has caused environmental contamination and hardships that homeowners, small businesses, and communities are still trying to recover from today.”

Duke was required to pay $3 million to EPA to clean up the spill. There was ensuing litigation that led to the clean-up of Duke coal ash dump sites on 13 rivers statewide. “The extent of the coal ash contamination is statewide, and we continue to work on cases trying to fix it. We still have a mason jar in our office of the toxic water that our client collected on the day of the spill.”

“It was a highlight of our careers to work in tandem with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which worked with the Riverkeepers in their litigation, and where we represented property owners along the Dan River and across the state.”

“Making Duke Energy provide clean drinking water for the thousands of people who needed it within a half mile of the Duke coal power plants across NC was one of our most satisfying legal results. It felt great to be part of that success,” said Brice.