Ky., Ind. lead nation in coal ash ponds
Many states' inspection slacking, EPA data show

BY JAMES BRUGGERS - JBRUGGERS@COURIER-JOURNAL.COM - AUGUST 31, 2009

Indiana and Kentucky are the nation's top two states for coal ash ponds — and many of the holding basins for the toxic mess were built without the guidance of trained engineers, according to new information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The accounting, which found nearly 600 ash ponds across the U.S. — 53 in Indiana and 44 in Kentucky — is based on a survey of the nation's electric utilities that the EPA conducted after a massive December coal ash spill in Tennessee.

While the survey does not identify any of the Kentucky or Southern Indiana ponds as having any significant deficiencies, it found that inspections by state regulatory agencies in Kentucky, Indiana and elsewhere have been spotty.

“I'd feel a lot better if these things were designed, constructed and monitored by professional engineers,” said Lisa Evans, an attorney at Earthjustice, one of the environmental groups that requested the survey results from the EPA through the Freedom of Information Act. The Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project and Natural Resources Defense Council also joined in the request.

Coal ash contains toxic heavy metals, and questions about its safety became a concern in December after 5.4 million cubic yards of it broke through a dam at TVA's Kingston plant near Knoxville. It blanketed several hundred acres, damaged homes and properties, and polluted a tributary of the Tennessee River. The cleanup could cost nearly $1 billion.

National focus

The Obama administration has promised to adopt national rules for handling coal combustion wastes, including ash and scrubber sludge. But agency spokeswoman Latisha Petteway said Monday that she did not know when the agency might propose new regulations for ash ponds. Regulation now is largely left to individual states.

She declined to comment on her agency's ash pond accounting and would only say that EPA officials are analyzing the findings and will make a report public by Jan. 1.

The EPA reported numerous ponds that had not been designed by an engineer, including three at Duke Energy's Gibson County, Ind., plant, seven Kentucky Utilities ponds scattered around Kentucky, and LG&E's 10 ponds at its Cane Run and Mill Creek plants in Louisville. Some also weren't overseen by a professional engineer during construction.

Cane Run and Mill Creek's ponds date to the 1970s. Three KU ponds — at its Green River plant — were constructed 60 years ago.

Chris Whelan, a spokeswoman for E.On U.S., parent of LG&E and KU, said the utility doesn't know whether an engineer was involved because records could not be found in the 10 days she said the company was given to respond to the EPA. But she said the public should not be afraid of its coal waste ponds, because all have been inspected by professional engineers since the TVA disaster and were found to be in good shape.

Duke spokesman Jason Walls said the utility is confident in the stability of all its ponds in five states because of inspections conducted by its staff this year.

One of those company inspections at its Gallagher plant in New Albany, Ind., resulted in Duke taking “corrective action” on its own, according to the EPA records. Walls said he was not sure what specific problems had been found, but he said he is confident the company had either fixed them already or was in the process of doing so.

‘High hazard' ponds

In June, the EPA disclosed the locations of 44 “high-hazard” coal-ash ponds in 10 states, including seven in Kentucky and one in Indiana. That designation is based on the potential for death or major property damage if a dam fails.

The new information from the EPA shows that 35 states have ponds containing ash, scrubber sludge or other waste from burning coal.

The EPA's list shows no recent inspections by state regulators at numerous ponds, including some at LG&E's Mill Creek and Cane Run plants in Louisville, and Duke's Gallagher plant.

That's because Kentucky has no mandate to inspect impoundments deemed to be at little or no risk of collapse, said Bruce Scott, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection. “For high-hazard structures, we inspect once every two years. … So, based on this EPA evaluation, at least for high-hazard structures, Kentucky has done a pretty good job of inspecting those sites in a timely manner.”

There are no requirements in Indiana for routine inspections of ash ponds contained by relatively small berms, which are typical in that state, said Rob Elstro, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Reporter James Bruggers can be reached at (502) 582-4645.