September 04, 2024

Protecting Great Lakes Communities from Coal Ash Pollution

Communities like Waukegan, IL have been plagued with coal ash for years. State & federal laws are finally making progress towards cleanup, but more is needed 

by Karisa Candreva, ELPC intern 2024

Coal ash is a toxic byproduct of coal combustion that has plagued the Midwest for decades. Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio are among the states with the most coal ash dump sites in the United States. Due to the coal industry’s dependence on waterways for operation, coal ash dump sites are often found along lakes and rivers. This proximity has led to groundwater and surface water contamination, devastating harm to fish and wildlife, and dangerous human health impacts.   

On top of all that, coal ash sites along the Great Lakes face additional risks from rising lake levels and climate change. This predicament is what makes Waukegan, Illinois, of special concern. Waukegan is the most populated city on the Illinois shoreline north of Chicago, and the 88,000 residents there have been victims to industrial pollution for decades. This environmental justice community is home to the NRG Waukegan Generating Station, a plant nestled between four Superfund sites and the state’s most longstanding nature preserve, Illinois Beach State Park.  

ELPC released its Rising Waters Report in 2022 featuring the risks and recommendations for the NRG Waukegan Generating Station. Key concerns with the site included unsealed historic coal ash, slag, and fly ash pits and coal ash leaching into groundwater. Suggested actions included holding authorities responsible for cleanup, reducing the risks of the toxic sites, and maintaining an updated state water plan.  

Fortunately, since the Rising Waters Report, there has been progress on a number of levels. On the federal level, thanks to the 2018 DC Circuit decision, Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, et al v. EPA, new coal ash rules were finalized. On the state level, there has been headway under the Coal Ash Pollution Prevention Act, an updated state water plan, and introduction of legislation to protect the Great Lakes from coal ash.  

New Federal Rules

On May 8, 2024, the US EPA finalized new rules for the disposal and cleanup of coal combustion residuals (CCR), better known as coal ash. These new rules include requirements for legacy CCR surface impoundments and CCR management units. Importantly, these rules will narrow the previous gap left by the 2015 federal CCR rules.  

NRG Waukegan Generating Station must now manage any areas of CCR waste and fill dumped outside of regulated ponds or units. These management regulations include groundwater monitoring, corrective action, closure, and post-closure care. The new rules take effect November 8, 2024, with compliance deadlines spanning from 2024 to 2028.  

While the 2024 rules will directly impact NRG Waukegan plant’s cleanup efforts, regulatory gaps remain open from the 2015 rules. Some of these regulatory gaps include beneficial use, CCR at active landfills, closed coal plants with only landfills, and coal ash deposits in closed coal mines. Even though the new federal rules don’t fix everything, they are a positive step forward for holding industry responsible for cleanup.  

State Level Progress

In 2019, the Coal Ash Pollution Prevention Act passed, and in 2021, the state rules were adopted to address the environmental and human health hazards of coal ash. The rules tasked the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) with permitting coal ash sites for operation and closure. Without a final permit determination from the IEPA, coal ash sites cannot begin cleanup. As of July 2024, the IEPA issued its first two final permit determinations, over three years after the rules were adopted.  

The Illinois State Water Plan was updated in 2022, the first time since 1984. Notably, the plan makes no mention of coal ash. However, the plan includes recommendations related to coal ash issues, states the intention of including social and environmental justice perspectives into every section of the plan, and acknowledges the plan as an opportunity to spark changes and new ideas for elected officials and key leaders in Illinois.   

With Waukegan in mind, State Representative Rita Mayfield introduced legislation to amend the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5/22.59) by requiring greater protection to shoreline communities facing coal ash contamination and pollution. The amendment would require all CCR deposits in municipalities bordering Lake Michigan to be removed. While there was a senate session on this legislation in January 2023, there has been no further action to move the bill forward.  

What’s Next for Waukegan?

Although there has been substantial progress on Waukegan’s coal ash issue, there is still more work to do. Here are three action items that should be prioritized:

1. The EPA should close the loopholes within federal coal ash laws.
2. The IEPA should expedite its final permit determinations for operation and closure of coal ash sites.
3. The Illinois state legislature should pass the amendment to the Illinois Environmental Protection Act for the resiliency of Lake Michigan shoreline communities against coal ash pollution.