Duke Energy Corp. DUK, -0.71% warned Friday that flooding at a plant in Wilmington, North Carolina caused by the storm named Florence has caused breaches in the dam holding a cooling lake for a natural gas plant and that coal ash may be flowing into the Cape Fear River. The company has shut down the 625-megawatt natural gas plant as a safety precaution. "The rising river continues to overtop the north end of the cooling lake dam, a surface that is protected by a layer of compacted soil and cement," the company said in a statement. "Water is now exiting the cooling lake through breaches - one large and several smaller - on the southern end of the impoundment." The site contains two coal ash basins, one of which is believed to be holding in place behind a steel wall separating the excavation layer from the cooling lake. But cenospheres, lightweight beads made up of alumni and silica that are byproducts of coal combustion, are moving to the cooling lake and into the river. Experts are on site and are developing a repair plan, the company said. Shares fell about 1% Friday and are down 5% in 2018, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.03% has gained almost 10%.
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