Coal Ash Solutions - Hoosier Environmental Council

Time 2022-10-03 10:59:24

Web Name: Coal Ash Solutions - Hoosier Environmental Council

WebSite: http://www.indianacoalash.org

ID:338634

Keywords:

Solutions,Ash,Coal,Council

Description:

The Issues

Coal Ash Solutions

Home»Environmental Health & Justice»Coal Ash Solutions

Coal ash is the material left after burning coal.

It contains heavy metals that contaminate water. Indiana has been producing millions of tons of coal ash per year for decades, much of which is stored in the floodplains of rivers or Lake Michigan.

EPA Takes Important Steps to Reduce Coal Ash Pollution

On January 11, 2022, the EPA released documents that clarify important portions of the federal coal ash rule (the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule or CCR Rule).  These clarifications will put an end to the attempts we have seen in Indiana to dodge the rule by misinterpreting it. The net result of EPA’s clarifications will be less coal ash pollution in Indiana.

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Coal Ash in the 2022 Legislative Session

While EPA has clarified the coal ash requirements on the federal side, a bipartisan group of Indiana legislators are working to require safe coal ash disposal in state law. They have introduced bills in both the Indiana House and Senate for the 2022 legislative session. Passage of these bills will ensure continued safe disposal in Indiana even if future administrations in Washington DC attempt to change the federal coal ash rule. See HEC’s Bill Watch 2022 page for the latest.

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2020 Report Shows Indiana Lags Far Behind in Coal Ash Cleanup

In 2014 the Hoosier Environmental Council published Our Waters at Risk about the impact of coal ash on Indiana’s water resources. In the years that followed, a good deal more information became public. Read HEC’s 2020 report, which updates what is known about coal ash and Indiana’s water resources.

Download Our Waters At Risk Part 2

Download executive summary of Our Waters at Risk Park 2

The Hoosier Environmental Council’s work on coal ash receives generous support from the Energy Foundation, the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, the McKinney Family Foundation, and the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

The Issue

Coal ash contaminates groundwater and its disposal in floodplains puts Lake Michigan and Indiana’s rivers at risk. The safest disposal of coal ash is in engineered landfills on high ground with liners and leachate collection systems. (photo credit: © 2016 BlairPhotoEVV)

Millions of tons of coal ash are generated every year in Indiana. Much of this ash is dumped in surface impoundments (or ponds) that are located directly above shallow aquifers and built without liners to protect these groundwater resources. The utilities’ monitoring data show that coal ash at all of the unlined disposal sites tested is impacting the groundwater, though the sites vary in their combinations and concentrations of molybdenum, lithium, boron, arsenic, sulfate, cobalt, antimony, radium, lead, selenium and thallium. The maximum concentrations detected often exceed drinking water standards by manyfold. This list includes chemicals that increase the risk of cancer, damage the nervous system and brain, and interfere with a young or unborn child’s development.

Coal ash being sluiced into the bottom ash pond at AEP Tanner’s Creek power plant. Photo credit: Lockheed Martin, 2009

Because power plants are located next to sources of cooling water, surface waters are also at risk. The majority of the coal ash disposal sites in Indiana are in the floodplain of Lake Michigan or the Kankakee, Wabash, White, or Ohio Rivers.

Coal ash is most safely disposed of in engineered landfills on high ground with composite liners and leachate collection systems.

Utility companies in Indiana have web pages where they report on their coal ash compliance.

May 5th, 2020 News: HEC legal victory holds IDEM to strict compliance with public notice requirements

In addition to pursuing legal action when environmental protection standards are violated, HEC also brings court challenges, when necessary, to ensure compliance with administrative procedures for keeping the public informed and engaged in agency decision-making. Today, we achieved a legal victory on the latter front!  For years, HEC and our partner organizations have been reviewing and commenting on proposals submitted by Indiana’s coal-fired power plants for cleaning up or “closing” their many coal ash dumps across the state. The concern is that some of these proposed closure plans if approved will allow the utility to simply leave vast amounts of coal ash in place even though the waste is contaminating groundwater or nearby waterways. IDEM recently approved one such closure plan for Duke Energy’s Gallagher plant in New Albany but failed to notify HEC and other concerned organizations that had submitted written comments. As a result, by the time HEC learned of IDEM’s decision, the period of time to appeal the closure plan approval had passed. Accordingly, HEC brought the appeal anyway challenging not only the closure plan but also IDEM’s failure to notify HEC. We just learned that the court ruled in our favor on the notice issue allowing the appeal to proceed! Thus we can continue working for a responsible coal ash cleanup at the site that protects groundwater and the Ohio River.

Indiana produced

4.6

million tons of coal ash in 2020 (down from 5.8 million in 2019) (US Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-923 Schedule 8A)

Indiana has

86

coal ash ponds (active and inactive), more than any other state

Groundwater tested at coal ash sites in Indiana have an average of

5

heavy metal contaminants that exceed drinking water standards.

Coal Ash

Our Position

Coal ash must be disposed of without putting our water resources at risk.

Testing Your Well

In Indiana, there is no regulation of private well water.  Well owners are responsible for their own safety when using private well water.

To be on the safe side, HEC recommends getting a well tested if it is within one mile of a coal ash disposal site. The water should be tested for Arsenic, Boron, Cobalt, Lead, Lithium, Molybdenum and Radium. Almost every coal ash disposal site examined so far had exceedances of at least one of these health-based standards in the groundwater. View the complete list of potential coal ash contaminants. Nitrate and bacteria don’t come from coal ash, but as long as you are testing your well, test for them, too.  It is important to test wells for nitrate and bacteria regularly.

Coal Ash at Duke Energy Gallag...

Coal Ash at Duke Energy Gallagher Generating Station.

On the banks of the Ohio River, in the shadow of Floyds Knobs outside of New Albany, sit eight coal ash disposal sites – 7 surface impoundments (ponds) and one coal ash landfill — containing about 9 1/2 million tons of toxic coal ash. Groundwater has infiltrated the lower levels of the unlined Gallagher Generating Station surface impoundments, saturating the ash, and contaminating the underlying aquifer. The shallow aquifer at this location exchanges water with the Ohio River, so the coal ash contaminants are flowing into the river.

Learn more about coal ash at the Gallagher power plant.

Testing Your WellIs Your Well Near Coal Ash?

Is Your Well Near Coal Ash?

Most coal ash is disposed of on the power plant property. To find out if your well is near coal ash, view a map of where there are or have been coal-fired power plants in Indiana and find a detailed map of the power plant nearest you.

Coal Ash at Duke Energy Gallag...Groundwater Reports

Groundwater Reports

Groundwater monitoring shows that where ever coal ash is stored without a protective liner under it, it contaminates the groundwater.

The 2015 rule required the utilities to check groundwater under coal ash disposal sites. The first round of groundwater data had to be made public no later than March 2, 2018.

View the Hoosier Environmental Council review of all of the 2018 groundwater reports. The data show that where ever coal ash is stored without a liner under it, the groundwater beneath is contaminated.

Is Your Well Near Coal Ash?Federal Rule

Federal Rule

The federal rule on coal ash disposal should be protective of human health and the environment.

Coal ash was exempt from most waste disposal laws until the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule (CCR Rule) in 2015. Since there were no requirements prior to 2015, power companies disposed of the ash in the least expensive manner. Ash was placed in unlined landfills and ponds right next to the power plants. Coal-fired power plants need a source of cooling water, so the Indiana plants are located along Lake Michigan or the White, Kankakee, Wabash or Ohio Rivers. Therefore, most of the coal ash is disposed of in the floodplains of Lake Michigan and the rivers.

Groundwater ReportsIndiana Rule

Indiana Rule

HEC is advocating for an Indiana rule on coal ash disposal that is protective of human health and the environment.

Shortly after the EPA promulgated the 2015 CCR Rule (coal ash rule), the Indiana Environmental Rules Board adopted the portion of the EPA’s rule on coal ash ponds verbatim into Indiana’s solid waste management rules.

IDEM is currently working on a second draft.

Federal RuleFormer Tanner’s Creek Ge...

Former Tanner’s Creek Generating Station Update

Read the most recent public reports and filings about this former Indiana & Michigan Power/AEP coal-fired generating station along the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

The Tanner’s Creek Power Plant ceased producing electricity in May 2015. Since then the property was sold to Commercial Development Company, Inc (doing business as Tanners Creek Development LLC), which assumed responsibility for the coal ash. Tanners Creek Development hopes to use the site to build a new port for Indiana on the Ohio River. Testing to date shows that the groundwater at the site is contaminated with boron, arsenic, and manganese. Water supply wells nearby serve the City of Aurora and the Lawrenceburg, Manchester and Sparta Townships Conservancy District and are at risk from the coal ash. Read recent documents on the Tanners Creek clean up.

Indiana RuleMichigan City Coal Ash

Michigan City Coal Ash

NIPSCO is now required by federal law to decide on final disposal of the ash in the Michigan City ash ponds. This final disposal is referred to as “closure”. Their plan is to dig out the ash ponds and send the ash to the Schahfer landfill in Jasper County. A coalition of public interest groups submitted comments about the closure to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and public comment may be submitted through May 22, 2020. Learn more about Michigan City Coal Ash.

Former Tanner’s Creek Ge...

Take Action

How to Make a Difference

Get Tested

If you live near coal ash and have a well, get your well tested. Find lists of testing laboratories and contaminants in our Testing Your Well section.

Create Your Own Energy

Energy production is still overwhelmingly dominated by fossil fuels, which account for about 90% of its electric generation. That leaves Hoosiers asking what they can do in the face of such a large problem. One plan of action is to embrace homegrown, sustainable energy in your home and community by building your own “power plant” – a wind power system or solar power system to provide energy for your home, church, office or community center. This solution is not as out of reach as it once seemed; find some of the best Indiana-based renewable energy installers, who also happen to be our HEC Green Business partners. Learn more about how Indiana’s laws have changed regarding rooftop solar energy.

Speak Out

Tell your state representative and state senator that you support state laws on safe coal ash disposal.

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