State board ruling may bring longtime dispute over a Waukegan coal ash ponds to a close
A ruling by the Illinois Pollution Control Board disallowing NRG Generation's request for leniency handling the two coal ash ponds and the 'grassy field' which contains coal ash deposits at its decommissioned Waukegan power plant puts a longtime dispute closer to an end.
Ruling NRG will get no special treatment from the state, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is now in a position to move toward imposing a solution on NRG. Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor said in a statement city officials will soon meet with members of the IEPA.
'This is a major win for Waukegan, as our community has spent over 10 years pushing for the removal of the unlined and leaking coal ash along Lake Michigan,' Taylor said. 'The IEPA has confirmed these sites are contaminating groundwater with dangerous toxins.'
The Illinois Pollution Control Board ruled in a 16-page opinion March 20 in Chicago, agreeing with the IEPA all three sites on the property set aside for containing coal ash still have the pollutant on the land.
'The (grassy) area, the east pond and the west pond were originally a settling basin for sluiced (coal ash) and the area still contains historic (coal ash),' the board wrote in its opinion. 'The discharges from the area have caused a negative environmental impact.'
After the state enacted the Coal Ash Pollution Prevention Act in 2019, NRG decommissioned the plant in 2022. At the time, it put a plan in motion to remove the east pond, cap the west pond and made no plans for the grassy field. Taylor continues to advocate for full removal.
'Waukegan will continue to push forward with our legislators and community partners to ensure proper cleanup of this site to protect the long-term health of our people and our lakefront,' Taylor said in the statement.
After proposing to remove the east pond and cap the west pond, NRG decided to cap both last year. Ann Duhon, a NRG spokesperson at the time, said the procedure is better suited to the situation.
'There are a number of risks associated with removing the coal ash including the risk of exposure to people, the environment and the community,' Duhon said in an email in May of last year.
Making it clear NRG violated Illinois law in its handling of the ponds, the board ruled the grassy field is part of the package for cleaning the site because it presents 'environmental and health risks,' according to the opinion.
'Grassy field is an inactive surface impoundment that has never been closed by removal, nor has any type of low permeability cover been installed on top of it,' the board wrote in its opinion.
Taylor, state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, and State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Waukegan, all wanted to push for the complete removal of both ponds as well as proper treatment for the grassy field.
In early 2022, Johnson introduced legislation that passed the senate to require NRG to remove both ponds. As Mayfield tried to push it through the state House of Representatives, she did not bring it for a vote because there were not enough favorable legislators.
Johnson said Thursday she believes legislation is the best way to assure the ponds are removed. She believes NRG will oppose any effort to take action and the best way to ensure compliance is through a law requiring it.
'We must pass legislation to ensure coal ash is properly removed from the Waukegan site,' Johnson said. 'Holding polluters accountable and safeguarding our water, air and public health for generations to come.'
Introducing legislation when the Illinois General Assembly opened in 2023, Mayfield made another effort to enshrine the removal of the ponds in law. Again, she fell a few votes short and it did not come to the floor for a vote. She authored a similar bill early this year.
'It had its second reading and when there is a 60-vote majority it will come to the floor for a vote,' Mayfield said stressing she was working to secure the necessary support. She is not disclosing how many votes she has or who they are for fear NRG will lobby them against it.
'NRG has been lobbying very hard against it,' Mayfield said. 'They'll push ever harder if they know who they are.'
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