Coal Ash Chronicles

This December will be the 4-year anniversary of the tragic coal ash waste impoundment failure at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee when a billion gallons of toxic coal ash flooded the surrounding residential area and water bodies with extremely dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury, and other toxins.

In May of 2010 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the proposal for the first-ever national rules to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants and the structural integrity of coal ash impoundments. At the time of the announcement, Lisa P. Jackson, EPA Administrator, stated, “The time has come for common-sense national protections to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash. We’re proposing strong steps to address the serious risk of groundwater contamination and threats to drinking water and we’re also putting in place stronger safeguards against structural failures of coal ash impoundments. The health and the environment of all communities must be protected.”

The coal ash waste impoundment at Dynegy Energy’s Havana Power Plant on the Illinois River is larger than the ash impoundment that failed in 2008 at the TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant.

From the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, the nation’s primary law for regulating solid waste, arose two options for addressing the risks of coal ash management. Simply put, Subtitle C, which creates a comprehensive program of federally enforceable requirements for waste management and disposal, is the option that is clearly more protective of the health and environment of all communities. The other option, Subtitle D does not classify coal ash as hazardous waste, merely sets performance guidelines that are not enforceable by EPA, does not prohibit wet ash storage impoundments, does not require states to comply with minimum national standards for coal ash disposal, does not require utilities to monitor old landfills or waste ponds, does not require states to issue permits, and does not require regulations governing the pre-disposal management of coal ash such as storage, transportation, accidental spills, etc.

After the EPA announced the proposed rules it went out for public comment. Many of you were among the 450,000 people who commented on the proposed rule during the summer of 2010. We’ve been waiting now for two years for a final ruling.

Forty-three percent of the active and retired coal waste landfills are unlined and 53 percent lack leachate collection systems.

In the meantime, this summer EPA released data showing the number of coal ash disposal ponds and landfills is far greater than previously known. The data released by the EPA to Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) revealed that there are at least 451 more coal ash ponds and 56 additional landfills than previously acknowledged. Forty-six percent of the 1,161 ponds are not lined, which means there is nothing to prevent contaminates from leaching into water supplies. Forty-three percent of the active and retired landfills are unlined and 53 percent lack leachate collection systems.

On October 3, 2012, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Environmental Law & Policy Center, Prairie Rivers Network and Illinois-based Citizens Against Ruining the Environment filed a legal complaint with the Illinois Pollution Control Board against Midwest Generation for violations of Illinois state solid waste and groundwater laws at four power-generating facilities in Illinois: the Joliet 29, Powerton, Waukegan and Will County Generating Stations.

Meanwhile, while we’ve been waiting a final ruling, industry has been pushing hard to completely remove EPA’s authority to regulate coal ash altogether. Last summer, legislation introduced by Rep. David B. McKinley (R-WV) to prevent EPA from regulating coal ash was attached to a completely unrelated must-pass transportation bill. Fortunately, that maneuver was thwarted. Then came Senate Bill 3512, the Hoeven-Conrad-Baucus coal ash bill, designed to permanently remove EPA’s authority to regulate coal ash, to eliminate waste ponds, impose regulations on states to issue permits or close leaking and dangerous sites.

Yesterday it was confirmed that the original sponsors of S. 3512 were trying to attach it as an amendment to a military spending bill coming out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This morning an email arrived from our friends at Earthjustice with news that last night Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, spoke on the Senate floor about coal ash and it’s dangers, warning that she would remain in the Senate floor for as long as it would take to ensure that a coal ash rider does not get added to the Department of Defense funding bill.

The battle continues, but its encouraging to know that there are leaders with integrity watching out for our families and our future.

Pollution Control Board Finds Industry Mine in Violation of Water Permit

Polluted runoff from Industry Mine.

For eight years, between 2004 and 2011, Springfield Coal Company’s 5,651-acre Industry Mine in McDonough and Schuyler Counties violated its water permit 624 times. Pollutants including sulfates, iron, manganese, pH and total suspended and settled solids were released at 16 of 17 outflow points into tributaries of Grindstone Creek. Grindstone Creek flows into the LaMoine River, which flows into the Illinois River.

Industry Mine

In 2009, the Sierra Club, Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) and Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) notified the state of their intent to sue over 363 permit violations. In response, on February 10, 2010, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office filed a suit before the Pollution Control Board. On the 25^th ELPC filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Sierra Club and PRN. Over the course of the next two years Industry Mine continued to rack up pollution violations, which today amount to 624.

In a ruling released on November 16^th, the Illinois Pollution Control Board found Springfield Coal Company’s Industry Mine in violation of its water permit. Springfield Coal and its predecessor, Freeman United Coal Mining Company, face a maximum penalty of $64 million.

The penalty phase of the lawsuit will take place at a hearing at a future date to be determined. Although the Board rarely imposes the maximum fine, its our opinion that this fine should be substantial enough to send a clear message to Springfield Coal and the industry as a whole that clean water standards in Illinois will be enforced!

Industry Mine
Photo credit: Marianne Morgan/InIllinoisWater.org

The extreme number of pollution violations at Industry Mine is of particular concern because Springfield Coal is also seeking permits to open two new strip mines in west-central Illinois. One, the North Canton Mine strip mine is proposed directly upstream from Canton Lake, Canton’s public water supply for over 20,000 people.

We commend everyone who took part in this important case, which demands the protection public waterways from chronic violators. From the engaged citizens who saw what was going on and knew they had to take action, to the Attorney General’s Office that took up this case, to the Pollution Control Board that did a thorough review of the data, all played an important role in a system that works if we pay attention and stay involved.

Stop the Swap–Go to Bat for the Bats

How ironic that during the Year of the Bat, the Shawnee National Forest would propose a land exchange in which the Forest Service would trade away a 384-acre tract of land with a known endangered bat species to Peabody Coal, Co. for a strip mine! An Indiana bat maternity roost was found on the parcel and the endangered gray bat was also detected there.

A diamond in the rough, the Gallatin County parcel is one of the Shawnee’s best-kept secrets. Located just a few miles south of Shawneetown on the Saline River, it takes only one visit to this beautiful piece of land to know that it is providing critical habitat in a part of the state that has seen more than its fair share of human disturbance.

“The single-most important factor that leads to endangerment and extinction of species– and the one the Forest Service has the greatest influence over—is the alteration and loss of habitats.” US Forest Service, Threatened, Endangered & Sensitive Species Program.

In the proposed exchange the Forest Service would trade a parcel of approximately 384 acres in size for three tracts of ALH land, which adjoin FS land in Pope and Jackson Counties.

The federal parcel is entirely forested with bottomland and upland hardwoods, including swamp chestnut oak, American elm, red maple, sweetgum, maple, ash, tulip tree and the Forest’s largest and highest quality cherrybark oaks. It’s rare to find such a diverse bottomland forest habitat within the Saline River watershed, which is constantly being bombarded with clearing, mining, ditching and draining. Canoeist and anglers enjoy recreating in this section of the Saline River, while hikers, bird watchers and hunters enjoy the beautiful woodland.

The natural wonders alone should be ample reason for the Forest Service to hang on to this parcel, but the discovery of federally-endangered Indiana and gray bats should stop the swap. This past summer, gray bats were detected and one Indiana bat maternity roost was found on the site and 2 more maternity sites were found on FS land very near by. These are the only known Indiana bat maternity roosts known on the eastern half of the Forest.

The proposed land swap is in complete violation of the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act requires the Forest Service to “use all methods and procedures which are necessary” to preserve endangered species. The Forest Service is required by law to give the highest priority to the protection and recovery of endangered species.

The Shawnee National Forest is seeking scoping comments on this proposal to swap land-for-land with American Land Holdings (ALH), a subsidiary of Peabody Coal, Co. Let your voice  be heard–take action here!

Citizens of Canton in Fulton County don’t deserve a stocking full of coal!

Protect the Copperas Creek Watershed

Will the citizens in Canton, IL be getting a big lump of coal in their stocking? Or will the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) do the right thing and Protect Canton Lake and Copperas Creek from strip mining coal?

Canton area citizens, friends and allies pack the hearing.

That’s what a large crowd of people who attended  IEPA public hearings in Canton last night are wondering.The IEPA held the hearings to determine the request of Capital Resources Development Company, LLC, for a 401 Water Quality Certification¹ and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)² permit for the proposed North Canton Mine. The proposed 1,084.5-acre coal strip mine site is located just over a mile upstream from Canton Lake, threatening the safety and quantity of drinking water for 20,000 people and permanently destroying miles of tributary streams in the Copperas Creek watershed.Aerial view showing proximity of proposed North Canton Mine to Canton Lake–drinking water supply for over 20,000 people.

Aerial view showing proximity of proposed North Canton Mine (orange outline) to Canton Lake and Copperas Creek.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has identified the Copperas Creek watershed as a strategic watershed in the Illinois River Bluffs regions due to its high quality habitat. Allowing the mine to destroy these streams is in complete opposition to the Department’s plan to “protect the good stuff first.”

If anyone gets a lump of coal in their stocking it should be Capitol Resources Development, LLC for the 300 Clean Water Act violations since 2003 at its Industry Mine in McDonough County. Despite ongoing legal action since 2009, IEPA has issued no fines and the Industry Mine continues to pollute.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has identified the Copperas Creek watershed as a strategic watershed in the Illinois River Bluffs regions due to its high quality habitat.

It’s not too late to show your support for a broad alliance of farmers, business people, health care professionals, teachers, attorneys, students, retirees, camping, hunting, and fishing enthusiasts who have all come together to protect their area’s sole source of drinking water from an ill-conceived and potentially disastrous mine proposal.

Comments concerning both the 401 certification and the NPDES permit can be made until Jan. 5, 2012.  Submit your comments using our handy Sierra Club Online Action form. Or email your comments– but be sure to specify either NPDES or 401 in the subject line.

¹The 401 certification is for impacts to the watershed associated with the proposed mine site, which is currently used for agriculture with forested stream corridors.
²The NPDES permit is for storm water related discharges of wastewater from the mine site into the Middle Branch of Copperas Creek and the West Branch Copperas Creek.

Chicagoans Urge Mayor Emanuel To Protect Public Health

Rev. Thomas R. Gaulke, Pastor at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport, speaks on the importance of retiring two of Chicago's dirty coal plants: Fisk and Crawford

Supporters of the Clean Power Coalition delivered an eight-foot tall board to Mayor Emmanuel’s office displaying over 800 Chicagoans demanding their right to breathe cleaner air.  Local community justice members, parents, environmentalists and public health experts urged the Mayor to set retirement dates for Chicago’s two dirtiest coal plants,

Fisk and Crawford, by the end of 2011.

Fisk and Crawford are two of the dirtiest coal plants in the country located in a dense urban area. Studies have shown that these two coal plants are linked to asthma attacks among children, heart attacks, hospitalizations and early deaths. Chicago Clean Power Coalition members, including Sierra Club, have been mobilizing in their communities to shutter the pollution from both Fisk and Crawford and to fight for clean air solutions.

During the petition delivery event, Rev. Thomas R. Gaulke, Pastor at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Bridgeport and representatives from P.E.R.R.O. and Pilsen Alliance spoke on behalf of the community, urging Mayor Emanuel to announce retirement dates a top priority of his administration.

Clean Power Coalition supporters and organizers continue to bring light to a pollution crisis that results in 45,000 tons of pollution a year and in an eight year span has cost Chicagoans more than $1 billion in health care and environmental costs.  Join us and our community partners in moving Chicago beyond coal.