Coal Ash Site Near Romeoville Showed Arsenic In Groundwater

ROMEOVILLE, IL — Coal ash dump sites across Illinois are responsible for contaminating groundwater with arsenic, cobalt, lithium and other toxins, according to a new report from an alliance of environmental groups. One of those dump sites — the Will County Generating Station — is about a mile and a half from Romeoville; it showed arsenic levels more than five times higher than the federal safety limit.

The report, written by the Environmental Integrity Project, Earth Justice, the Prairie Rivers Network and the Sierra Club, is based on industry data just recently made public by federal regulations. It found 90 percent of coal ash dump sites in the state have leaked heavy metals and other toxins into nearby watersheds.

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Located between the Des Plaines River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the Will County site has four unlined coal ash ponds. Because of leakage from those ponds, the report says, nearby groundwater showed unsafe levels of a slew of contaminants.

In addition to arsenic, researchers recorded the presence of boron at twice the health threshold and sulfate at 1.5 times the health threshold. They were even higher when compared against Illinois state standards.

NRG Energy (formerly Midwest Generation), which operates the power station, plans to close two of the ponds and remove their coal ash, but it is unlikely the contamination will stop completely unless the coal ash is also removed from the two remaining ponds, the report claims. If the ash remains in the ponds, it will continue to seep into local groundwater, researchers said, "continu[ing] to pollute the groundwater at the Will County site for centuries to come."

Two other power generation stations in nearby Joliet were also found to be leaking contaminants into the Des Plaines River. Levels of arsenic at the Joliet 9 power station were up to 23 times higher than levels considered safe, while the Joliet 29 station showed unsafe levels of cobalt, manganese and sulfate.

Nevertheless, Romeoville officials say residents probably aren't in danger. The city draws its water from five deep wells and seven shallow wells located throughout the village, and, though they will continue to monitor the situation, officials believe those wells aren't close enough to the coal ash facility to warrant concern.

"[The Will County Generation facility] is on the eastern edge of the community, over 1.6 miles away from the closest Romeoville water supply well," officials said in a prepared statement. "Based on regular sampling conducted by the village, the Village of Romeoville is confident that there is currently no impact to its water system from this facility. The village is always vigilant to ensure that any dangers posed by this facility (or any other) would be identified."

Officials said Romeoville routinely samples and analyzes drinking water as required by state and federal regulations, and they have yet to detect any state or federal violations.

"Romeoville's drinking water meets all IEPA and USEPA drinking water standards," they added. Those test results can be found on the city's website.

The problem goes far beyond Romeoville, however. Millions of tons of coal ash are created every year as a byproduct of coal-fired power generation across the state. Coal ash ponds have escaped state and federal oversight for years, environmentalists say, and coal-fired power plants are responsible for more than 300,000 pounds of aluminum, 600 pounds of arsenic, 300,000 pounds of boron, 200 pounds of cadmium, 15,000 pounds of manganese, 1,500 pounds of selenium, 500,000 pounds of nitrogen and nearly 4o million pounds of sulfate that make their way into rivers, lakes and streams across the state every year.

The groups called on state and federal regulators to increase their oversight and strengthen rules protecting the public from coal ash contamination.

"We're reaching a turning point as energy companies are proposing to leave coal ash in floodplains of rivers and exposed to groundwater," said Andrew Rehn, a water sources engineer with the Prairie Rivers Network. "We need stronger rules that provide permanent protection with a financial guarantee, and give the public a voice in these decisions."

Because groundwater contamination was largely kept secret prior to a 2015 federal coal ash regulation, the extent of contamination is just now coming to light, the groups said.

"Now that communities can see the evidence of toxic pollution leaking into their precious groundwater resources from these ponds for themselves, they can hold utilities and the state accountable," said Earth Justice attorney Jennifer Cassel.

Joe Laszlo, a Sierra Club member and chairperson of the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance, said he believes the companies responsible have a moral obligation to clean up their coal ash sites.

"Illinois cannot afford to stand by while companies dump toxic waste that will threaten our state’s valuable water resources indefinitely," he said. "Coal ash creates one more barrier to economic development, while cleaning it up can create jobs and open the door to future development."

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