Courtesy: Bob Donnan, Earthjustice
The Little Blue Run impoundment, the
nation's largest coal ash pond, is set to close after a
complaint filed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection. The nation's largest coal ash pond is set to close after actions by a state regulatory agency, National Geographic News reported.
The 1700-acre Little Blue Run impoundment, which opened in 1974, straddles the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border. Owned and operated by FirstEnergy Generation Corp., a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio-based electricity company FirstEnergy Corp., the impoundment accepts coal combustion byproducts from FirstEnergy's Bruce Mansfield Plant, the largest electric power plant in Pennsylvania, according to FirstEnergy's website.
On July 27, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection filed a complaint against FirstEnergy Generation Corp., citing the impoundment's lack of a liner as a potential hazard.
"The absence of a liner in the disposal area creates a potential for contaminants from the waste to move into groundwater and surface waters near the impoundment," the complaint reads.
FirstEnergy signed a consent decree, also on July 27, agreeing to develop a plan to shut down the site by Dec. 31, 2016, according to FirstEnergy's website.
Waste & Recycling News reported in July that environmental groups were pushing for stricter regulation of coal ash dump sites. The U.S. EPA has so far avoided establishing coal-ash-specific regulations, Lisa Evans, an attorney with environmental law firm Earthjustice, told WRN.
Environmentalists said the PA DEP's actions mark the first time a regulatory agency has taken such aggressive action on a coal ash pond, according to the National Geographic News article.
w w w . w a s t e r e c y c l i n g n e w s . c o m
copyright 2012 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.