Indiana is failing to clean up its toxic coal ash pits, new report says

Indiana is among the worst states in the country when it comes to cleaning up its toxic coal ash pits, according to a new report on these dangerous sites and their pollution.

The Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice, two environmental nonprofits, released an analysis Thursday of hundreds of coal ash ponds and landfills across the country. The groups looked at documented groundwater contamination around the sites, plans to clean up the contamination, and whether utilities are complying with the federal rule that established first-ever protective requirements on coal ash disposal.

According to the report, the vast majority of utilities are not in compliance for dealing with the cancer-causing coal byproduct.

There are compliance failures at 16 leaking ash disposal sites across Indiana, according to the report. It is tied with Illinois for having the most problem pits, the report shows.

Across those sites, Indiana has more than 80 pits holding the cancer-causing coal byproduct. That’s more than any other state in America.

Indiana’s coal ash concerns have long been documented through extensive IndyStar coverage. Environmental organizations and communities surrounding the power plants have also criticized the state’s and utilities’ handling of the toxic ash pits.

What is the report?

The report evaluated 292 regulated coal plants across the country, analyzing contamination from their coal ash pits and landfills as well as any plans that are in place to clean-up the pollution and to close the ash dumps.

According to the report, it presents evidence of contamination at more plants than were previously documented — 265 of 292, or 91% — and also describes significant noncompliance that allows harmful pollution to go unchecked and prevents environmental restoration.

What did the report say about Indiana?

There are 16 power plants across Indiana that have harmful levels of pollution exceeding safe levels as set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While many of these pits are known to be sitting in groundwater — which allows the toxic heavy metals to leach out — most power companies are planning to leave the ash in place. This goes against the federal coal ash rule, the report says.

Several coal ash pits across Indiana were used as examples in the national report for how the federal rule is being “flouted.”

What is the federal coal ash rule?

The federal coal ash rule was established in 2015 to reduce groundwater pollution from coal-fired power plants across the country. It came after two coal ash disasters in the previous decade in North Carolina and Tennessee that spilled millions of tons of coal ash.

The Obama administration passed the Coal Combustions Residual, or CCR rule, the first to regulate the storage and disposal of coal ash.

The Trump administration then weakened that rule in 2020, allowing utilities to take longer to comply with pollution reduction guidelines and making said guidelines less stringent. The Biden administration is strengthening that rule again.

How are companies violating the federal rule?

The report outlines seven different ways that the groups say the utility industry is violating the coal ash rule and thus thwarting clean-ups and what they call “safe closures” for coal ash pits.

Those include leaving coal ash sitting in groundwater where it can continue polluting, deceptive analyses of groundwater by using inappropriate monitoring wells, shifting the blame of contamination to alternate sources, delaying clean-ups, and designing “flawed” clean-up schemes and remedies that do not actually restore the groundwater quality.

What are some of the other main findings of the report?

Almost all — 91% — of regulated coal plants the report evaluated are contaminating groundwater in 43 states.

The report also found that 70% of the power plants across the U.S. with ponds that are closing with ash in or near groundwater are located in disproportionately low-income neighborhoods or communities of color.

At nearly half of the polluting sites, owners have denied responsibility for the contamination and are not planning to take clean-up action. The remaining contaminated plants have submitted plans detailing possible clean-up options but less than a third have actually committed to a specific plan.

What is Indiana doing for clean-up and closure?

The vast majority of Indiana’s coal ash pits are unlined, meaning they are in contact with groundwater and are at risk of being washed into rivers or streams because they sit in floodplains.

They've already rendered the groundwater around 14 of 15 power plants across the state no longer safe enough for drinking water, according to the latest monitoring data.

Meanwhile, regulators are approving plans that will let utilities close their ash pits by putting a cap over them and leaving the ash in place, rather than excavating the pits and moving the ash to lined landfills outside of flood zones. State policymakers also have not considered bills proposed in recent years on the same topic.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has told IndyStar that any plans for closing ash pits that it approves "are in compliance with all state and federal regulations, and are protective of human health and the environment.”

Other states, however, are making power companies dig up their coal ash and move it into dry, lined landfills where it can no longer pollute.

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New report: Indiana is failing to clean up its toxic coal ash pits