A Freedom of Information Act request to EPA by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed that 49 power plants violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at 116 coal ash disposal sites, contaminating groundwater with arsenic, manganese, boron, selenium, and cadmium. The data revealed 28 contamination sites in West Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado and South Carolina that were previously unknown.

Coal Ash Ponds and Landfills Around the U.S.

Millions of tons of coal ash, a bi-product of burning coal for electricity, are being stored in ponds, landfills, and abandoned mines. Environmentalists charge that these sites pose a hazard to neighboring communities from potential disasters, such as the massive coal ash spill at Tennessee Valley Authority site in 2008, and from groundwater contamination as disposal sites leak slowly. Some of these plants were under the radar, and had never been identified before by EPA or in our earlier reports on ash ponds and landfill," explained EIP Director Eric Schaeffer in a press release.

EPA Data Reveals New Coal Ash Water Contamination Sites

EPA surveyed 42 other power plants which indicated either that water monitoring data was unavailable, refused to disclose monitoring data on the grounds that it is proprietary information, or simply assured EPA that there was no contamination. However, EIP points out that those assurances don't match state-level water monitoring data revealing problems at some of those same plants.

"EPA's Office of Solid Waste is still grinding away on proposed standards for coal ash disposal“ more than three years after the TVA spill “ but has somehow never found the time to require testing of the groundwater next to coal ash sites, or even to systematically collect the data that is already there. This 'see no evil' approach leaves the public at risk, and makes it easier for polluters to duck responsibility for a growing problem," charged Schaeffer.

Chemicals From Coal Ash Contaminating Groundwater

Chemicals reported in levels violating the Safe Drinking Water Act or Federal Health Advisory levels include the following:

1. arsenic (a potent carcinogen) reported at no fewer than 22 sites;
2. manganese (a metal that can damage the nervous system in high concentrations) at 22;
3. boron (a pollutant that can cause damage to the stomach, intestines, liver, kidney, and brain when ingested in large amounts) at 12;
4. selenium (a toxic pollutant that causes adverse health effects at high exposures) at 13; and
5. cadmium (a toxic pollutant that can damage the kidneys, lungs, and bones) at 10.

DesSmogBlog reports: "This new report comes on the heels of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on an amendment to the Surface Transportation Act of 2012 that would prohibit the EPA from regulating coal ash. That amendment was put forward by Representative David McKinley, a Republican from West Virginia."

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