Floodwaters topped the earthen dike at the northern side of Sutton Lake on Friday. Water from the south end of the lake is flowing back into the river, Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan told AP.

Water has also crested over the steel retaining wall of a coal ash dump on the lake shore, Sheehan said. Duke “can’t rule out” that ash might have spilled into the river.

Gray material that Duke Energy described as “lightweight coal combustion byproducts” was floating on the top of the lake Friday, according to AP.

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The 1,100-acre lake near the former L.V. Sutton Power Station is next to a landfill of coal ash residue left over from the plant, which closed in 2013. Coal ash contains a number of toxic metals, such as arsenic and mercury.

By Thursday, the Sutton Lake site had received more than 30 inches (75 cm) of rain from Hurricane Florence. The storm dumped over 8 trillion gallons of rainfall on North Carolina over the past week. The Cape Fear River is still rising, and is expected to crest on Saturday.

This is the second time in four years that Duke Energy has suffered a coal ash spill; in 2014, a pipe collapse at a plant in Eden dumped 39,000 tons of ash into the Dan River, contaminating about 70 miles (110 kilometers) of it. The utility company paid $102 million in fines and restitution and pleaded guilty to nine Clean Water Act violations as a result.

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