Asbestos found during construction of new Sutton Plant

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WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Construction on the new natural gas Sutton Energy Complex stopped after asbestos was found on site.

Last week, workers were digging in the area where the new power plant will be when they uncovered a structure underground that was more than 50 years old.

Tests on the materials showed traces of asbestos. OSHA was on scene Friday to assess the scope of the situation and officials with Progress Energy decided to stop all construction until the issue can be fixed. The move affects roughly 350 workers currently on the project.

According to Scott Sutton with Progress Energy, no workers have complained of any health issues related to the exposure to asbestos as far as he knows. There was a team from the state on site Monday to determine when the hundreds of workers can go back to work on site.

Sutton stressed the existing Sutton Power plant is fully operational and no one at that site is in danger.

In 2009, Progress Energy announced plans to shut down the coal burning plant and replace it with the natural gas plant in 2014. They broke ground on the plant in May 2011 and had expected the new plant to be operating in 2014. There is no word yet on how this incident impacts the timeline.