Millions of tons of coal ash, the residue of coal after it’s been burned, sit near current and former power plants around Indiana, including Northwest Indiana. Utilities that already required to cl…
This March 4, 2017 file photo shows a hyperboloid cooling tower at the NIPSCO Michigan City Generating Station, a coal- and natural gas-fired power plant, which is set to close by 2028. It’s also the site of coal ash that is subject to a new EPA rule that goes into effect in the fall.
The EPA’s action, which will take effect in six months, “closed loopholes in regulations so more coal ash will be cleaned up,” the Hoosier Environmental Council said in a news release. Just Transition Northwest Indiana, which has been campaigning for a complete cleanup of the coal ash at the Michigan City generating station, celebrated the EPA’s decision.
NIPSCO spokeswoman Tara McElmurry said the utility has excavated coal ash ponds at the Michigan City plant and filled them with clean soil. “Two million tons are sitting on Lake Michigan, held onto the shoreline by an aging, corroded steel wall,” said Susan Thomas, Just Transition NWI’s legislative and policy director and press secretary. “We continue to call this a ticking time bomb. I think this needs to be addressed immediately.”
The State Line Generating Facility, just east of the Illinois border along the Hammond lakefront, was owned by Southern Co. and provided electricity to Illinois’ Commonwealth Edison before it was closed in 2012. The former generating station is now occupied by Digital Crossroad, a data center. “Coal ash contains toxic heavy metals, so when it gets wet it contaminates the water,” the Hoosier Environmental Council said.
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