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Lone Tree
Council
P.O.
1251, Bay City, Michigan 48706
(Fighting for environmental
justice since 1978) For Immediate Release
Contact: Terry
Miller, (989)686-6386 Thursday, October 30, 2008
Merri DeSanto, (989)
894-0617
ARSENIC AND MERCURY FLOW FROM KARN / WEADOCK
FACILITY Ash
Landfills Source of Contamination to Bay According to DEQ
Documents
Documents obtained from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ) through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the watchdog group Lone
Tree Council, indicate that Consumers Energy’s Karn and Weadock ash landfills in
Hampton Township have been a regular discharger of arsenic and other toxics to
the bay. Investigations required by the DEQ in
2002 resulted in utility monitoring that showed arsenic, boron, lithium and
sulfate from coal ash leachate entering the bay from two ash landfills located
on site. The
Weadock Disposal area consists of a 292 acre landfill. The adjacent Karn
Disposal area is a 172 acre site.
Both are filled with fly ash and bottom ash, and both border the Saginaw
Bay. They were constructed in the
1940s through the 1970s on bay bottomlands and wetland areas. Inquiries by the
Lone Tree Council into the handling of fly ash disclosed a utility process which
turned the dried powder, the residue of coal burning, into a liquid slurry that
was then pumped to the two landfill sites. The
landfills were originally supposed to be isolated from the bay by clay walls
keyed into the clay bedrock, but according to the DEQ, the utility failed to
create a sealed barrier. Testing ordered by the DEQ in 2002 showed
levels of arsenic leaching into Saginaw Bay that exceeded water quality
standards for Michigan.
Moreover, the facility uses Saginaw River
water for process water, and is authorized to discharge up to 1.46 billion
gallons per day to Saginaw Bay.
According to the State’s Waste and Hazardous Materials Division,
Remediation Advisory Team report:
“The processes result in a net increase in mercury in the discharge water
over the intake.” “We are supposed to be excited about an
expanded coal-fired complex and we discover that the company has been
historically negligent about its wastes,” said Lone Tree Council chairman, Terry
Miller. “Here is one of the two
largest utilities in the state showing an incredible level of irresponsibility –
how many decades have seen arsenic leaching into the bay, the source of our
drinking water?”
The group also discovered that in 1992,
the waste sites were given a total of fourteen (14) variances that would
normally be required by this type landfill. These exempted Consumers Power (now Consumers Energy) from among other
items, staying 100 feet from the shoreline, four feet clearance from
groundwater, continuous supervision of unloading, and the requirement to
cover.
Also,
because the ash was in a liquid form and had access to groundwater, the Company
in 1986 was exempted from getting a State groundwater discharge permit. As the Water Resources Commission, an
oversight body at the time, noted: “The discharge is to an unusable aquifer
which vents to Saginaw Bay almost immediately.” The Company has recently requested that
that they continue to be exempted from getting a State groundwater permit from
the DEQ Water Bureau.
“It
is not a secret that our group opposes the expansion of coal fired plants – it
is what prompted the inquiries,” said Miller, “but this adds an additional level
of concern, and brings a whole host of questions to the table – how does the
utility plan on remediating this legacy of neglect? What additional provisions have been
made for the ash from an expanded facility? What levels of arsenic reach
drinking water intakes? And will
the ratepayer be held responsible for a
cleanup?” “This
news on arsenic and ash is another reason ‘clean coal’ is just a promotional
phrase used by utility lobbyists,” added Merri DeSanto, spokesperson for
Citizens Exploring Clean Energy (CECE), a Bay City group recently formed to
examine the energy issue. “We are very interested in pursuing clean energy such
as wind, geothermal, and solar, and the more news we hear about the problems
with the burning of coal, the more we believe that jobs, public health, and the
environment are only served by renewables.” The
DEQ’s Water Bureau and Waste and Hazardous Materials Division, have indicated
that they have been in regular discussions with the utility and that the Company
has agreed to construct a slurry wall at the Weadock ash landfill. Remediation of the Karn ash landfill is
still under discussion. The Lone
Tree Council has requested that the MDEQ conduct a public meeting to more fully
address the issues at the site.
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