DUKEVILLE — Buck Steam Station’s coal ash ponds rank as low to intermediate priority in the state’s draft classifications released Thursday.

As required by law, the Department of Environmental Quality ranked coal ash ponds across North Carolina for closure. Thursday’s draft classifications are the first step in a process that now heads into a lengthy public input process.

Buck Steam Station joined four other facilities in being ranked low to intermediate priority. In its announcement, DEQ said it only had enough information on Buck and four other facilities to narrow them to low or intermediate. The four other facilities were: Allen Steam Station in Belmont, Belews Creek in Stokes County, Cliffside in Cleveland and Rutherford counties, and Marshall in Catawba County.

Under the 2014 Coal Ash Management Act, all coal ash ponds in North Carolina must be closed. The classifications determine the method and date ponds are closed. Intermediate or high classifications mean the designated ponds must be excavated. A high-priority ranking, however, would be excavated at an earlier date.

“Thanks to Governor McCrory’s leadership and the hard work of dedicated DEQ staff, North Carolina is well on its way to permanently eliminating the decades-old threat of improperly stored coal ash,” said DEQ Secretary Donald R. van der Vaart in Thursday’s announcement. “DEQ’s draft classifications are the result of months of review of scientific information about each coal ash pond’s impact to the environment and public health.”

Following Thursday’s announcement, DEQ will begin a lengthy public input process that includes holding meetings in every county containing coal ash ponds. The state could make changes to classifications based on public input.

A full story on the classifications will be in Friday’s Salisbury Post.