Dive Brief:
- Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the Kentucky U.S. District Court to stop Louisville Gas and Electric from "almost daily" dumping of coal-ash polluted water into the Ohio River, a violation of their permit allowing "occasional" dumping.
- Sierra Club and legal partner Earthjustice sent a year of remote-camera photos of the dumping to LG&E in March and, because there was no observed change in the practice, their lawsuit asked for a court order to stop it and penalties of up $37,500 per day per violation.
- Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection Commissioner R. Bruce Scott said state regulators have found no violation of the permit which, he added, "does not restrict the frequency" of dumping of what LG&E calls "treated water" and Earthjustice calls "a gushing flow of toxic coal ash pollution.”
Dive Insight:
An LG&E spokesperson denied the permit violation charges, saying the discharge of "treated" water through an "ash pond settling process" is carefully monitored and regularly reported on to the proper authorities.
The pond is 43 acres across, with an average depth of 27 feet, and contains (1) ash-sluice water, (2) boiler chemical cleaning waste waters, (3) cooling water and (4) storm water runoff from (a) a coal pile, (b) a limestone pile, and (c) ash treatment basins, according to the legal filing.
The coal-combustion waste in the pond water may contain arsenic, mercury, selenium and other toxic substances which may be getting into drinking and recreational waters for millions of people, according to the filing.
