Updated at 4:15 p.m., Sept.30 with comments from NRG Energy
Illinois is considering additional rules for how power companies manage the toxic ash that coal-fired power plants produce.
In April, the state鈥檚 Pollution Control Board adopted . The board established a to solicit rules for historic ash fill, temporary storage piles, dust monitors and the way it defines an environmental justice community.
The most significant part of the potential new rules address historic ash fill, said Jenny Cassel, a senior attorney with Earthjustice鈥檚 coal program.
鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 always been dumped in well-defined ash pits or landfills, but has been used as fill,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of dumped here and there, sometimes used to build the berms of ash ponds themselves. And we know there鈥檚 a lot of it.鈥�
Cassel cites a in which the Illinois Pollution Control Board eventually found coal ash fill likely polluted groundwater for years at Midwest Generation facilities in Joliet, Powerton, Waukegan and Will County.
鈥淎ll of them have these areas where coal ash was just not inside an ash pond, but rather was dumped around the site itself,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have imagined and now confirmed that is, in fact, part of what鈥檚 contributing to the contamination at these sites.鈥�
A spokesperson for NRG Energy, which now owns the Midwest Generation facilities, said the company is preparing permit applications in accordance with regulations and will work closely with regulators to implement the new rules "while focusing on the well-being of our communities, the environment, and maintaining communication with the public and other stakeholders."
Ninety percent of Illinois coal-fired power plants had unsafe levels of toxic pollutants in their groundwater, Using ash to fill in different parts of coal power plant properties is a widespread practice in the industry, said Andrew Rehn, a civil engineer at Prairie Rivers Network, an environmental group in Illinois.
鈥淚t鈥檚 complicated because the ash they produce changes,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey might burn different coal, they鈥檝e definitely changed treatment technology since they started operating. The better we clean the air, usually that means it ends up in the waste ash stream.鈥�
An engineering report detailing the history of construction at the Wood River Power Station in East Alton reviewed by 漏 2024 外网天堂 reveals coal ash was one of the materials used in the embankments for the site鈥檚 east ash pond.
That worries Toni Oplt, chair of the Metro East Green Alliance, especially if the property were to flood and wash some of that material into the Mississippi River.
鈥淭here are people that depend on that water for drinking,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole tourism business built in that area around the fact that those are river towns.鈥�
Commercial Liability Partners, which owns the Wood River site, did not respond to a request for comment.
, environmental groups mainly propose property owners remove coal ash that鈥檚 been used as fill or install groundwater monitoring in some cases.
New energy legislation implications
The potential for more rules directed at managing the toxic pollutants from coal plants comes after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker that forces all privately owned coal plants to eliminate carbon emissions by 2030, which will likely mean their closure.
New regulations around temporary storage piles and dust emissions account for this impending reality, Cassel said. Coal power plant sites in the state will need to be remediated, which could include removing coal ash from established pits, she said.
鈥淭here simply may be logistical situations where they can鈥檛 fit the exact amount [of ash] they鈥檝e removed from the ash pond directly into a truck,鈥� Cassel said. 鈥淭he idea with these piles is that they are a way station, between the ash that鈥檚 being removed from the impoundment and if need be the final destination.鈥�
Environmental groups propose temporary ash pile volume shouldn鈥檛 exceed the amount of coal ash that would be extracted over three months. They also want monitors to ensure coal ash dust doesn鈥檛 drift from a specific site.
The implications of the energy legislation underscore how important finalizing these additional rules are for communities where coal plants are still operating or have recently closed.
鈥淔or us, time is of the essence,鈥� said Dulce Ortiz, co-founder of Clean Power Lake County. 鈥淲e need to push the Illinois Pollution Control Board not to take their time in making a decision.鈥�
The new rules could also affect the plans and others have former coal plant properties. at the old Crawford Generating Station in Chicago.
Both Rehn and Cassel said that construction at one of these sites without any remediation could either kick up coal ash or lock it into the ground. Oplt shares those concerns when considering Wood River and how she has seen local leaders think of the site as an ordinary redevelopment project.
鈥淭he caveat here is that this isn鈥檛 like any other property,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 even on their radar that there could be huge environmental and health problems here.鈥�
Eric Schmid covers the Metro East for 漏 2024 外网天堂 as part of the journalism grant program: , an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
