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Report: Toxic pollutants leaking from 12 Iowa coal storage sites

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Twelve sites in Iowa that store coal ash — a waste product formed during coal-fired energy generation — are leaching toxic pollutants into the environment, according to a new report released Thursday.

These sites, including one in Linn County, are among at least 265 coal-fired power plants across the United States contaminating groundwater, representing 91 percent of the nearly 300 evaluated sites, the report by nonprofits Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice found.

Coal ash contains toxic pollutants that can cause cancer, disease and bodily and neurological damage. Many coal-fired power plants historically have disposed of coal ash in unlined surface impoundments — known as coal ash ponds — or landfills, where it can leach into nearby water sources. An Earthjustice database found that regulated landfills and ponds across the country hold more than 2 billion cubic yards of coal ash — enough to fill about 600,000 Olympic swimming pools.

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The 2015 Environmental Protection Agency coal ash rule prohibited further use of coal ash ponds and landfills, and it established groundwater monitoring, cleanup and reporting requirements for qualifying locations.

In their new report, the nonprofits evaluated the cleanup plans that power plants have proposed since the 2015 EPA ruling. The vast majority of power plant owners are not proposing any treatment for groundwater at contaminated sites, the report said. By not fulfilling these requirements — and more — from the EPA’s rule, the report said that many of the country’s coal-fired power plants were out of compliance.

“Our report documents the industry's widespread refusal to clean up the toxic mess they've made,” said Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans. “Coal plants are polluting the nation's water illegally and getting away with it.”

Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy, operators at some of the 12 Iowa sites named in the report, say they already are following the EPA’s standards and regulations for coal ash disposal.

Under the coal ash rule, every coal plant owner is required to monitor nearby groundwater and publicly report the data. Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice compiled those results and used them for their analyses. Between the new report and its 2019 predecessor, the nonprofits analyzed data from 292 coal plants between 2015 and 2019.

The new report highlighted the sites across Iowa that had pollutant levels exceeding safe health-based thresholds:

  • City of Ames Municipal Electric System (City of Ames)
  • Burlington Generating Station (Alliant Energy)
  • Lansing Generating Station (Alliant Energy)
  • Louisa Generating Station (MidAmerican Energy)
  • M.L. Kapp Generating Station (Alliant Energy)
  • Muscatine Power & Water CCR Landfill (Muscatine Power & Water)
  • Neal North Energy Center (MidAmerican Energy)
  • Neal South Energy Center (MidAmerican Energy)
  • Ottumwa Generating Station (Alliant Energy)
  • Prairie Creek Generating Station (Alliant Energy)
  • Sutherland Generating Station (Alliant Energy)
  • Walter Scott Jr. Energy Center (MidAmerican Energy)
 
That’s it I’m done using electricity until Iowa is 100% renewable. Costs totally out weigh the benefits. Cheap, reliable and responsible for saving millions of lives coal can kick rocks. Done with you bro.
 
Or we can be adults and simply stop these leaks.
No you have to go to the root of the problem. You don’t slow illegal immigration by enforcement at the border you go 2000 miles to Honduras. Fix electricity then you don’t have to worry about leaks.
 
No you have to go to the root of the problem. You don’t slow illegal immigration by enforcement at the border you go 2000 miles to Honduras. Fix electricity then you don’t have to worry about leaks.
Why not just plug the leaks in the ash pits with illegals? Would that make you happy?
 
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