Power Plant Facing Legal Action for Contamination

By: Nathan Lamb

A North Carolina power plant accused of leaking waterborne pollutants is facing legal action from environmental officials, according to this story from the Citizens-Times newspaper.
 
A recently filed lawsuit from the N.C. Division of Water Quality alleges that the Progress Energy plant in Asheville is leaking toxic chemicals into groundwater and the nearby French Broad River.

Officials termed the contamination a threat to public health and water resources, and asked the courts to require the company to assess the cause and extent of the problem within 120 days. The suit also requests additional testing for groundwater and private wells nearby.

The state compelled the utility to install monitoring wells at the site in 2009, and the complaint cites test results from monitoring wells, along with two incidents where inspectors discovered contaminants migrating from coal ash ponds to the nearby river.

Specific contaminants included thallium, a toxic metal often associated with coal burning operations. According to the EPA, effects can include nerve damage, gastrointestinal irrational, damage to the kidney, liver, testicular tissue and hair loss.

Duke Energy, which owns the plant, issued a statement saying it has complied with its environmental permits.

Located roughly 120 miles west and north of Charlotte, Asheville is a city of roughly 83,000.

Coal Ash Spill Ruled Negligent

By: Duane Craig


Hundreds of property owners who have taken the Tennessee Valley Authority to court over the 2008 spill of contaminated sludge near Kingston, Tenn., were pleased with a judge’s opinion that TVA is liable for damages stemming from the spill, according to this report.

Still, many admit they will never recover what they lost and that any settlements will not change the damage that’s been done. The spill released 5 million cubic yards of ash that was being stored in a containment pond. The material contained all the by-products released from the burning of coal, including “arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and other metals.” The sludge flowed into a river and contaminated land all along its course, ultimately making the waterway unsafe for many of the uses residents previously enjoyed. After more than $1.2 billion has been spent on the cleanup, there remains more to do. A half million cubic yards of ash have settled onto the river bottom where it will simply remain, potentially be capped, or be removed.

TVA had claimed there was nothing it could have done to prevent the failure since there were things beyond its ability to control that precipitated the catastrophe. The judge, however, called into question the utility’s handling of the ash, writing that it did not follow its own procedures, policies and practices which caused it to miss the warning signs of impending failure. By not recognizing those signs the utility failed to take actions that could have prevented the disaster.
To date, the utility has purchased 180 of the affected properties and settled 200 other claims. Still, there is a case load involving more than 800 plaintiffs in the court system.

The Environmental Protection Agency published a list of the coal ash surface impoundments that have high hazard ratings. The list is published to help local responders and community officials adequately plan for other such disasters. As of April 2012 the agency had identified 676 places where coal ash is being stored and found 45 of those to be highly hazardous.

States with the heaviest concentrations of these ticking time bombs include Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio. Arizona’s problems are located in Cochise and Joseph City while North Carolina’s problems are more widespread at Spencer, Eden, Terrell, Belmont, Walnut Cove, Arden and Mount Holly. Ohio has potential spills in Brilliant, Cheshire and Waterford. Kentucky also has its share of troubled impoundments including Harrodsburg, Ghent, Louisa and Louisville.

Other states with troubled coal ash impoundments include Montana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia.

Environment Groups Cite Lansing, NY Power Plant For Coal Ash Pollution

September 9, 2010 - Near one power plant in New Mexico, sheep and cattle ranchers have reported losing hundreds of livestock who drank polluted groundwater. In a Montana town, people have been sickened by drinking water contaminated with high levels of sulfate and boron, the same metals discharged into groundwater by a nearby plant.

And in McAdoo, Pa., federal health officials have confirmed a rare bone marrow cancer cluster in a town near several plants and a waste dump, though federal officials haven't either confirmed or denied a link between the cancers and the plants.

These aren't incidents taking place close to natural gas drilling sites using new hydraulic fracturing techniques, but rather are near decades-old and still functioning coal-fired power plants, which provide roughly half of America's electricity.

One Tompkins County coal-based power plant, AES Cayuga in Lansing, was among 39 across the country cited by three national environmental groups in a new report on groundwater pollution caused by coal ash.

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New Study: Coal Ash Water-Contamination Much Worse Than Previously Estimated, With 39 Additional Toxic Sites Identified in 21 States

August 26, 2010 - Days before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) kicks off a series of regional hearings across the United States on whether and how to regulate toxic coal ash waste from coal-fired power plants, a major new study identifies 39 additional coal ash dump sites in 21 states that are contaminating drinking water or surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals. The report by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Earthjustice and the Sierra Club documents the fact that state governments are not adequately monitoring the coal combustion waste (CCW) disposal sites and that the USEPA needs to enact strong new regulations to protect the public.

The new EIP/Earthjustice/Sierra Club report shows that, at every one of the coal ash dump sites equipped with groundwater monitoring wells, concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at Hatfield's Ferry site in Pennsylvania reaching as high as 341 times the federal standard for arsenic. (See study highlights below.) The new report is available online at http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/.

A February 2010 EIP/Earthjustice report documented 31 coal ash dump sites in 14 states. The 39 additional sites in today's report along with the 67 already identified by the USEPA bring the total number of known toxic contamination sites from coal ash pollution to 137 in 34 states. Together, the independent reports and USEPA's own findings make clear the growing number of waters known to be poisoned by poor management of the toxic ash left over after coal is burned for electricity.

The 21 states containing the 39 damage sites identified in the new report are: Arkansas (2 sites, Independence and Flint Creek); Connecticut (1 site, Montville); Florida (1 site, McIntosh); Illinois (3 sites, Joliet 9, Venice, and Marion); Iowa (3 sites, Lansing, Neal North, and Neal South); Kentucky (3 sites, Spurlock, Mill Creek, and TVA Shawnee); Louisiana (3 sites, Dolet Hills, Big Cajun, and Rodemacher); Michigan (1 site, Whiting); Nebraska (1 site, Sheldon); New York (1 site, Cayuga); North Carolina (1 site, Dan River); North Dakota (2 sites, Leland Olds, and Antelope Valley); Ohio (4 sites, Uniontown aka Industrial Excess Landfill, Cardinal, Gavin, and Muskingum); Oklahoma (1 site, Northeastern); Oregon (1 site, Boardman); Pennsylvania (2 sites, Hatfield's Ferry and Bruce Mansfield aka Little Blue); South Dakota (1 site, Big Stone); Tennessee (3 sites, TVA Johnsonville, TVA Cumberland, and TVA Gallatin); Texas (1 site, LCRA Fayette Power Project); Virginia (2 sites, Glen Lyn and Clinch River); and Wisconsin (2 sites, Oak Creek aka Caledonia and Columbia).

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Toxic OH Ash Ponds

August 31, 2010 - The coal ash storage pond at the Muskingum River power plant north of Waterford is leaking toxic substances that could threaten drinking water wells in that area, according to a recent report from two environmental groups - the Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project.

The local power facility, located on Sparling Road, is among three American Electric Power plants in Ohio that the "In Harm's Way" report says is allowing toxic materials like arsenic and mercury into groundwater above maximum contaminant levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The other two plants are AEP's Cardinal plant in Brilliant, and the Gavin power plant in Cheshire.

But AEP officials disagree with allegations in the report, and say the Muskingum plant's coal ash impoundment is in compliance with EPA standards. Ohio EPA spokeswoman Linda Oros said according to the supervisor of the agency's division of drinking water, there is no indication of toxic levels of substances above drinking water standards at any of the three facilities.

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No Real Answers For WI Residents Without Drinking Water For a Year

August 25, 2010 - Residents who have not had access to their drinking water for about a year now were disappointed and frustrated Tuesday night after still not getting the answers they were looking for from state officials - the source of the groundwater contamination and possible solutions.

More than 60 people packed the East Side Community Center, 6156 Douglas Ave., where state officials from the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health Services addressed concerns and answered questions during a two-hour public information meeting on the high levels of molybdenum found in wells in Caledonia and Oak Creek.

"Nobody wants to admit where (the contamination) is coming from - nobody knows nothing," said Josey Dorval, 68, of Caledonia. "And I don't know where to go. It's too much for me."

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DNR Investigates Poisoned Wells In Caledonia, WI

June 28, 2010 - Don't drink the water. That's the message some Racine County residents have been hearing since last summer.

Their wells are contaminated, and they're still waiting to find out what's causing the problem.

"You can't drink it. You can't cook with it," Caledonia resident Gordon Polster said.

The problem is that his well, and many others, contains high levels of a contaminant called molybdenum. It is a naturally occurring byproduct of materials such as coal ash.

Polster and more than a dozen of his neighbors live near the WE Energies Oak Creek coal plant.

The Department of Natural Resources is trying to determine a source, and has identified a nearby landfill as a possibility.

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Coal Ash Woe: The Tale of a Montana Town

June 17, 2010 - In the tiny Montana town of Colstrip, people knew the Moose Lodge well water tasted bad. But it would be years before the community learned why.

Waste ponds at a massive coal plant nearby had leaked over the decades, contaminating wells in residential neighborhoods and groundwater under cattle grazing lands, as lawsuits would eventually allege. According to an excellent investigation last year by The Center for Public Integrity (CPI), some who drank the well water got diarrhea; another resident stopped drinking her strange-looking tap water after her cat would no longer lap it up.

The contamination came from a coal plant, but not from the usual air pollutants.

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EPA Lists "High Hazard" Sites

June 30, 2009 - The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of 44 coal ash storage sites that are a potential threat to surrounding communities. North Carolina has the largest number of these so-called "fly ash ponds" like the one that breached in Tennessee in December burying homes and contaminating water.

After the TVA dam broke near Kingston, Tennessee on Christmas Eve, the EPA called for a review of other such dams around the country. They hold the ash and toxic left-overs of coal power plants and, until now, the list of such sites was not made public.

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Residents of contaminated town in Indiana win enviro grant

April 13, 2009 - The town of Pines, Indiana is contaminated with coal ash from Northern Indiana Public Service Company's Michigan City generating facility that the utility stored for three decades at the Yard 520 landfill.

Coal ash contains contaminants, such as boron and molybdenum, and leaked from the landfill into groundwater. Today, the dark gray mass covers streets, driveways and back yards across the town and officials say that people are being exposed to contamination 360 days a year.

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Missouri among ‘Filthy 15,’ environmental group says

March 12, 2009 - Missouri ranks twelfth among the “Filthy 15” states in terms of the number of proposed coal-fired power plants that will produce coal ash, an environmental group contends.

The four proposed plants in Missouri would produce 515,709 tons of coal ash if built, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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Environmental agency says Texas leads nation in production of coal ash waste

March 13, 2009 - As the Environmental Protection Agency moves toward controlling coal ash waste from power plants, a new study finds Texas leading the nation in current and proposed production of the waste, which contains toxic metals.

Coal ash waste has been in the news since a holding pond dam in Tennessee broke on Dec. 22, spilling 1 billion gallons of sludge. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said this week that the agency will examine safety issues nationwide and the waste's effect on water quality.

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Indiana Residents fear for their health

February 8, 2009 - It's been five years since Peggy Richardson was able to rinse her Thanksgiving turkey under the running tap. Five years since she could wash fresh fruit without first filling up a tub with water from a bottle. Five years since she was able to shower without worrying whether contaminated water from the showerhead will harm her body.

Richardson hasn't been able to drink or cook with her tap water for the past five years because her well is contaminated with boron and molybdenum.

She lives less than half a mile from Yard 520, a landfill owned by Brown Inc. For three decades, NIPSCO stored coal ash from its Michigan City generation station there. The ash was left over from coal burned to produce electricity.

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Deal reached in Maryland well contamination suit

January 5, 2009 - A class-action lawsuit against Maryland’s largest power company was settled on December 30 when a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge approved an estimated $54.4 million settlement over a case involving fly ash dumped in a Gambrills, MD, mine, The Daily Record recently reported.

A Gambrills family filed a lawsuit in November 2007 against Constellation Energy, contending that their neighborhood’s drinking water was contaminated with coal ash, as WaterTech Online® reported. Constellation Energy and the operator of its fly ash dump site were fined $1 million by the Maryland Department of the Environment in October 2007 for contaminating drinking water in private wells.

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Like spill site in East Tennessee, Gallatin, TN plant puts ash in ponds

January 4, 2009 - Betty Johnson of Gallatin lives more than 100 miles from East Tennessee's massive ash sludge spill. But to her and her neighbors, the disaster hit a little too close to home.

That's because they're in the shadow of another Tennessee Valley Authority power plant — which uses the same method to store coal ash as the one that failed at the Kingston plant last month, spilling tons of potentially toxic sludge into the surrounding community.

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Tennessee Valley Authority says ash spill triple amount of original estimate

December 27, 2008 - The Tennessee Valley Authority now says three times more coal ash and water escaped Monday from the failed retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant than first estimated, and initial testing in the Emory River indicates nearby waters are polluted above regulatory limits for drinking water.

A TVA official said Friday the agency revised the spillage figure after an aerial survey with a radar system using laser light.

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Tenn. residents fear impact of sludgy ash spill

January 1, 2009 - The spill at Kingston Fossil Plant, which was the world's largest coal-burning power plant when it opened in 1955, occurred when walls of an above-ground storage pond gave way. The ash waste, which was stored in a massive "dredge cell" 55-60 feet high, turned into a gooey sludge containing arsenic and heavy metals.

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Massive coal-ash spill causes river of sludge and controversy

December 25, 2008 - What may be the nation's largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity.

Federal studies long have shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems. But with no official word on the dangers of the sludge in Tennessee, displaced residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property and wondering what to do.

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