EPA Rejects DTE's Continued Use Of Coal Ash Basins At Monroe, Belle River Plants - Types Of Gardening

Federal regulators struck down DTE Energy's method of storing contaminated coal ash at the Monroe and Belle River power plants, saying the utility's monitoring of potential groundwater contamination was inadequate and that DTE had not proven its unlimited coal ash collection did not protect the pans.

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it intends to reject six applications across the country from utilities that want to continue dumping coal-burning residue, known as CCR, or coal ash, at open landfills including the Monroe and Belle DTE plants. Coal ash, mainly a byproduct of coal-fired power plants, contains arsenic, lead, mercury and other heavy metals that cause cancer, developmental disorders and reproductive problems.

Environmental groups welcomed the move.

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"We are very encouraged that the EPA is denying all of these requests," said Melissa Legg, an attorney with the environmental nonprofit EarthJustice.

Hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic wastewater

"Certainly, the EPA is closely monitoring the (coal ash) problems we're seeing in various parts of the country: problems with groundwater monitoring networks and, most importantly, evidence that harmful pollutants are entering groundwater."

DTE representatives said in a statement that they disagree with the EPA's decision.

"Extensive scientific testing shows that this pool meets and exceeds EPA performance standards, and we look forward to providing more information to EPA during the public comment period," a DTE spokesperson said.

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The Monroe and Belle River power plants are the last coal-fired DTE sites, due to the utility's transition to natural gas power generation, as well as wind and solar power. Built in the early 1970s, the massive Monroe DTE power plant provides 30% of the utility's total capacity to about 900,000 electric customers in southeast Michigan. The mill site includes a 410-acre storage facility that contains a mixture of wastewater from the mill with coal ash, as well as dry ash stored in a small portion of the landfill. DTE reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2021 that the Monroe Basin contains approximately 620 million gallons of fly ash and other wastewater and receives an additional 19 million gallons per day.

Belle River Mill, located in St. Clair County Chinatown, has had dual ash pits installed since 1984, containing about 5 million gallons of coal ash wastewater.

© DTE Energy DTE 's Belle River Power Plant in East Chinatown. DTE Energy East has filed a plan with the state to build a natural gas-fired power plant on about 100 acres east of the Belle River Power Plant in Chinatown.

Boron, arsenic and lithium were found at the DTE test site.

In 2020, the EPA developed new rules for coal-fired power plants that store coal ash in chambers without composite protective cladding. The rule follows a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that determined the EPA should not allow such facilities to continue operating, "despite the agency's determination that there is a 36.2% to 57% chance of releases from unlined tanks at hazardous levels of contamination, and that such Releases, when they occur, pose a serious risk to people and the environment," EPA DTE officials said in the proposed order.

The new EPA rules require utilities to stop receiving residual coal ash at these facilities after April 11, 2021, but allow utilities to apply and continue to use it if they can demonstrate that their facilities provide equivalent protection to composite disposal systems. . The Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency has now rejected the utility companies' freeze.

"The Environmental Protection Agency holds utilities accountable and protects our precious water resources from harmful pollution while providing reliable energy to our communities," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

"We are committed to working with our national partners to protect everyone, especially residents of contaminated communities, from coal ash pollution now and in the future."

In the Monroe and Belle rivers, EPA officials found evidence of high levels of contaminants such as boron, arsenic or lithium and found that DTE did not adequately support their claim that the contamination came from natural or other sources.

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"Being Cheated When Analyzing Ground Water"

EPA officials also questioned the location and operation of a network of DTE wells for groundwater monitoring. They note that the network should include enough upgraded wells from the coal ash storage facility to allow groundwater contamination levels to fall from unaffected areas and then after the groundwater has passed through the storage facility.

In Monroe and Belle River, EPA found that advanced reference wells were located too close to coal ash collectors, which could have influenced readings and masked potential overruns. It also found that some monitoring wells in the Belle River are far from the basin, allowing potential contamination to dilute before it can be controlled by drilling.

Abel Russ, lead lawyer for the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project, was blunt: "They interfered with the groundwater analysis."

Russ authored a 2019 report, "The Toxic Legacy of Coal," which analyzed government data to show how much coal-fired power plants pollute groundwater.

Relocation of control wells is a common practice for national utility companies, Russia said.

DTE maintains its groundwater monitoring system

"All they have to do is identify the pristine bottom of the well and compare all the potentially contaminated wells with the bottom hole to see if the groundwater becomes more contaminated as it passes through the landfill," he said. he said. .

“They compare each hole to itself, which allows you to see if there's a trend over time. But in an old place like Monroe... you don't see (pollution), it's already done. We will not see the process getting worse because it is already worse.

DTE said in a statement that it "has a robust groundwater monitoring program and we regularly report data."

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EPA officials also found that the data provided by DTE were insufficient to suggest that naturally compacted clay lining its coal ash bunkers would provide the same protection as modern composite coatings. Technical standards.

"Available records are not sufficient to conclude that the soil at the site will perform reliably as claimed in the application," EPA officials said.

At one site in Monroe, a coal ash reservoir just 200 feet from Plumb Creek and Lake Erie, the EPA said the information provided by DTE was "insufficient to establish a lack of communication between the impoundment and the nearest body of water." . There is no reasonable risk of such an order now or in the future if the unit is allowed to continue operating."

Russ says: "It's completely connected to Lake Erie and completely connected to groundwater. Of course, groundwater isn't divided into separate sections, but that's kind of the illusion they rely on."

Four months after EPA signs the final order, DTE must stop using the coal ash bin, fill it with a composite liner, or find an alternative way to dispose of the coal ash waste. The EPA asked utilities to seek additional time "if necessary to address demonstrated network reliability issues."

As far as the utility is concerned, the EPA's action should be viewed as a fresh take on past practices, said Legg, an attorney with Earthjustice.

"We hope companies will see the writing on the wall and clean up the pollution from their ashes," he said. "And other companies that don't take action will see the EPA take (coal ash) regulations seriously and not just hope they can get away with it."

Last year, DTE announced plans to convert its Belle River Power Plant to a natural gas-fired plant by 2026 and close two units in Monroe by 2028, with the remaining two units by 2035.

Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: EPA opposes continued use of DTE coal ash bins at Monroe, Belle River plant.