Environmentalists sue over coal ash disposal at Utah power plant

SALT LAKE CITY -- Mar 22 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - Standard-Examiner, Ogden, Utah

Two environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit accusing Rocky Mountain Power of violating clean water laws by allowing toxins from coal ash waste to leach into the groundwater and two streams near its Huntington coal plant in central Utah.

In their U.S. District Court suit filed recently, HEAL Utah and the Sierra Club call for termination of environmentally damaging practices surrounding the 40-year-old coal plant. The groups say toxins from coal ash, a byproduct of power plant combustion, have been leaking from a landfill into Huntington Creek and Fish Creek.

The suit is the latest in a series of actions nationally over the past decade by environmental groups pushing state and federal officials to rein in handling of pollutants from coal-fired plants. In October 2015, the groups filed a notice of intent to sue over the Huntington discharges, and after what they describe as inaction by state water quality and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials, they followed up with filing suit in late February.

Matt Pacenza, executive director of HEAL Utah, said by phone Tuesday the suit is the culmination of investigations by the activists over the past several years. He said their look at Rocky Mountain's practices was sparked by a series of high-profile cleanup cases in the East involving coal plants.

The groups obtained public records, reviewed the plant's regulatory permits and conducted water testing.

"As soon as we did that, we found a fascinating and disturbing story," Pacenza said.

Longstanding pollution issues became apparent, he said, "a fairly serious problem of toxic waste water leaching out of the bottom of its coal ash landfill."

Pacenza said Rocky Mountain's effort to address the problem was "flabbergasting" because tributary stream flows above the affected creeks were closed off, a holding pond was built and coal as was spread onto an area the utility set aside for a research farm.

"They call it a research farm but it feels like a sham process for cheaply handling a toxic problem they didn't want to deal with, or not deal with," he said.

While Pacenza said Rocky Mountain and its parent company, PacifiCorp, may be in compliance with state permits, the environmental groups argue that "something went wrong, and the reality is that even if they are in compliance with state permits, they are in violation of federal law." The groups in the suit lay out a series of alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.

Rocky Mountain spokesman Dave Eskelsen, contacted Tuesday, referred inquiries to a prepared statement in which the company labeled the environmental groups' charges as misleading or false. The company also said the groups have a history of trying to shut down coal energy.

"Rocky Mountain Power has a long record of excellent compliance with state and federal environmental laws. We are committed to maintain this record. The company has taken proactive measures at the Huntington power plant to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and has obtained the appropriate permits to undertake these actions," the statement said.

The company said it would continue to use coal power to provide low-cost electricity as part of its "all of the above" generation resource portfolio. It said the Huntington plant's operational life will extend beyond 2030.

"Our gradual, prudent deployment of more natural gas, wind and other renewable resources has been underway for more than 15 years. Since 2001, all the power plants we've built have been natural gas or wind," the statement said.

"The company has dealt for many years with threats and lawsuits by Sierra Club and HEAL Utah. But recent publicity tactics by these groups are particularly objectionable in how they selectively use data to make misleading and, in some cases, false claims."

You can reach reporter Mark Shenefelt at mshenefelt@standard.net or 801 625-4224.