Duke Energy says it needs time to clean coal ash

Duke Energy's chief executive says the company is putting together a detailed plan to clean up nearly three dozen coal ash pits across the state.

But Lynn Good told a business group Wednesday that it wouldn't happen overnight.

Good's comments came two months after a massive coal ash spill at Duke's Eden plant, which coated a 70 mile stretch of the Dean River in toxic sludge.

She says the spill never threatened the drinking water of communities along the river, and that the overall water quality of the river is back to normal.

But a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, Frank Holleman, disagreed. He says the river is still seriously polluted with coal ash and heavy metals.

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.