Christopher B. Sanford: A fine with no impact

Regarding the Oct. 12 editorial “Outrage over the Duke fine”: Our leaders seem to have difficulty deciding an appropriate penalty for Duke Energy’s coal-ash damage, actual and potential, to the environment we all must live in.

Commercial enterprises should either improve our world or at least have neutral effect. Damage to our environment is stealing from all of us.

Penalties should be severe enough to, at the least, repair all damage.

An expert committee should calculate (as well as possible) the cost of known public damage (the coal ash spill) and private damage (poisoned wells near Wilmington), extrapolate possible future costs (for other coal-ash spills, etc.) and require Duke Energy to deposit funds to cover all these costs. If clean-up is completed without another disaster, then deposits could be returned.

In addition to covering all costs and losses, penalties should be large enough to affect the company’s bottom line, so that the board of directors and the stockholders feel the pain and know they must take action. How much? Ten percent of net income, $200 million perhaps? The agreed-to $7 million is a joke, a slap on the wrist.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Christopher B. Sanford: A fine with no impact."