Illinois’ coal-fired power plants, after decades of unsafe disposal of coal ash, have severely polluted the underlying groundwater. For the first time in 2018, utilities were forced to publicly report groundwater monitoring data on their websites because of new transparency requirements imposed by 2015 federal coal ash regulations. The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), Earthjustice, Prairie Rivers Network, and SierraClub, examined that data and determined that about 90 percent (22 of 24) of Illinois’ reporting coal-fired power plants have contaminated groundwater with unsafe levels of one or more toxic pollutants.
These findings place Illinois at a crossroads: Will the State address the widespread pollution of its aquifers,and protect drinking water and nearby lakes and rivers, or will it continue to allow this toxic contamination to flow in perpetuity? Illinois began developing rules to protect against pollution from coal ash ponds in 2013, but those unfinished rules have sat abandoned for years, allowing pollution from those toxic ponds to continue to flow into rivers, lakes, and groundwater all around the State. Illinois must not wait any longer. It must take immediate action to protect families and waters from these dangerous dumps.
For decades, coal plant owners in Illinois operated disposed of millions of tons of toxic coal ash, primarily in unlined ponds, with little regulatory oversight by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Coal ash contains a brew of hazardous pollutants such as arsenic,boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, radium, selenium and more, which can severely harm human health, fish and wildlife. The levels of multiple toxic pollutants foundat Illinois plants exceed levels that are safe for human consumption.
The contamination revealed by the groundwater data is severe. The data, released earlier this year pursuant to a2015 EPA regulation known as the “coal ash rule,” show:
• At NRG-subsidiary Midwest Generation’s Waukegan Plant, on the shore of Lake Michigan, arsenic exceeds safe levels in groundwater monitoring wells by over two thousand times, boron is more than eleven times EPA’s health threshold and more than sixteen times Illinois’ drinking water standard, and chromium exceeds safe levels by more than four hundred and eighty times. Lithium, molybdenum, and sulfate also exceed safe levels many times over.
• At the Lincoln Stone Quarry on the banks of the Des Plaines River in Joliet – into which Midwest Generation dumped coal ash from its now-gas-fueled Joliet coal plants for decades – arsenic exceeds safe levels in groundwater monitoring wells by over twenty-three times, boron is seven times higher than EPA health thresholds, lithium exceeds safe levels by eight times, and molybdenum exceeds safe levels by eighteen times. Sulfate also exceeds safe levels, at fifty percent over EPA’s health threshold.
• At Vistra subsidiary Dynegy’s Hennepin coal plant,in the floodplain of the Illinois River downstream of Starved Rock State Park, arsenic and boron are more than three times higher than safe levels, and lithium reaches levels up to twelve times higher than what is safe. Other pollutants present at unsafe levels include cobalt, molybdenum, and selenium.
• At Dynegy’s E.D. Edwards coal plant, located on the Illinois River just south of Peoria, arsenic in groundwater monitoring wells reaches nearly tentimes safe levels, lead concentrations are eighteen times US EPA’s drinking water standard, lithium is more than twenty times higher than safe levels, and cobalt is forty times higher than safe levels.
• At Midwest Generation’s Powerton plant on the Illinois River just downstream of Peoria, arsenic exceeds safe levels by up to fifty times, and boron, cobalt and sulfate are also present at unsafe levels.
• At Dynegy’s retired Vermilion coal plant on the MiddleFork of the Vermilion River – Illinois’ only National Scenic River – upstream of the City of Danville, where ash-polluted groundwater is visibly seeping through the riverbank into the river, groundwater testing revealed boron at levels more than thirteen times EPA’s health threshold and sulfate up to three times the EPA’s health threshold.
• At Dynegy’s now-shuttered Wood River coal plant,on the banks of the Mississippi River in Alton (Metroeast), arsenic in groundwater wells exceeds safe levels by six times, boron exceeds EPA health thresholds by twenty-three times, molybdenum is nearly nine timessafe levels, and sulfate is nearly double EPA’s health threshold.
• At Southern Illinois Power Cooperative’s Marion plant, on the shores of Lake of Egypt in far-southern Marion, thallium (formerly used as rat poison) is up to one hundred and fifty times safe levels, and cobalt is seventy times higher than safe levels. Other pollutants present at unsafe concentrations include arsenic boron, lithium, and selenium.
Illinois’ problems, however, extend far beyond the current contamination of groundwater at the power plant sites.Dynegy and Midwest Generation, LLC, which own the majority of the contaminated sites in the State, intend to close dozens of polluting ponds by leaving much of the coal ash in place (see Attachment A). Because these ash ponds are located close to lakes and rivers and are likely to continue to be inundated by groundwater, their contamination plumes will continue to flow into the State’s waters. In addition, nearby many drinking water wells have not been tested or publicly posted, and it is possible that contamination may flow to communities who draw their drinking water from the affected aquifers and rivers.
The environmental impacts of contaminated groundwater come on top of the pollution that comes from permitted wastewater discharges at the same facilities. According to the most recent Clean Water Act permit applications on file with Illinois EPA, Illinois coal plants dump millions of pounds of pollution into lakes, rivers and streams each year, including over 300,000 pounds of aluminum, 600 pounds of arsenic, nearly 300,000 pounds of boron,over 200 pounds of cadmium, over 15,000 pounds of manganese, roughly 1,500 pounds of selenium, roughly 500,000 pounds of nitrogen, and nearly 40 million pounds of sulfate. These discharges bypass groundwater and go straight into surface water. The pollution discussed in this report migrates through groundwater,but often ends up in the same place. In the end, the two sources combine to create a massive load of toxic metals that harm aquatic life, make Illinois fish less safe to eat,and generally degrade Illinois’ precious waterways.
As a result of the 2015 coal ash rule’s monitoring and reporting requirements, we now know the severity of the coal plants’ pollution of Illinois groundwater. Once groundwater is polluted, it is extremely difficult to stop the contamination unless the source of pollution is removed.
Currently, the owners of coal ash dumps in Illinois plan to leave much of that toxic coal ash in place. In the rare cases where they plan to excavate ash, the plan is often to add that ash to another neighboring coal ash dump that will be left in place. In short, in most cases, dangerous coal ash will be left where it now sits, continuing to pollute Illinois’ waters for decades or centuries to come.
Our report presents a snapshot of the significant problem facing Illinois residents. Protection of the state’s rivers,lakes and drinking water sources is within reach, if prudent steps are taken now by the State of Illinois to require companies to dig up coal ash dumped in unlined pits, clean up waters already polluted by coal ash, and strengthen safeguards against continued contamination from other coal ash dumps. This report includes specific recommendations to protect Illinois’ waters. If the recommended actions are not taken, harm to Illinois’ water resources will continue, and coal ash contamination will endanger the state’s aquatic ecosystems and potentially the health of its residents for generations to come.
Sad.