Dominion Virginia Power could begin draining two coal-ash ponds into Chesapeake Bay tributaries any day now, following a state board’s approval last week. But officials from the power company say it will be months, not weeks, before designs for treating and dewatering the ponds will be completed.
In the meantime, environmental groups and agencies that opposed the two permits granted by the State Water Control Board are planning to appeal within 30 days.
By a 5-1 vote, the governor-appointed water control board allowed Dominion to “dewater” coal-ash ponds at its Possum Point and Bremo Bluff power stations into tributaries of the Potomac and James rivers, respectively.
Dominion Power plans eventually to stop putting coal ash in all 11 impoundments it has at four of its power plants in the state. The company already has transferred the contents of several of those ponds into one in preparation for draining it and covering the remaining contaminants with a layer of clean dirt.
The recently approved changes to Dominion’s pollution permits at two of those sites set a precedent that could be followed when the company proceeds with plans to drain ponds at two remaining sites: the company’s Chesapeake Energy Center near the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake and the Chesterfield Power Station near the James River in Chester.
“With the approval of these two permits, I think the scales are tipped in favor of making bad decisions on the others,” said Greg Buppert, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, which has opposed both permit changes.
A byproduct of burning coal for power, the ash is one of the most ubiquitous types of industrial waste, with more than 100 million tons of it produced in the United States in 2012, according to the EPA. Coal ash contains toxins such as arsenic, lead and mercury that can be harmful to human and environmental health.
The state water control board received more than 500 public comments on the permit change for the Possum Point impoundment near where Quantico Creek flows into the Potomac River. Commenters and nearly 20 public agencies expressed concerns over the impact of toxic contamination on aquatic life and the humans that consume fish from the local waters, among other issues.
The Potomac Riverkeeper and environmental law center also argued that the limits set for some 15 different toxic chemicals in the permit are not stringent enough. They said they do not make use of the best available technology or match requirements set by states such as North Carolina that have set higher standards following coal ash spills.
The largest coal ash spill in the nation’s history occurred at a plant in Tennessee in 2008, triggering reforms that are now leading to closure of coal-ash impoundments across the country. A coal ash spill into the Dan River in North Carolina in 2014 upped the regulatory ante, leading the EPA to require plants to shut down their coal ash storage ponds in the coming years.
The two pond closures in Virginia are the first the state has approved, and SELC’s Buppert noted that the EPA did not oppose the request to drain them. Environmentalists and other state and local agencies have said the permits do not meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act, because they do not use the best available technology to reduce the risk of contaminated discharges to public and environmental health. They argue that the technology exists to filter out greater amounts of pollutants than the state is requiring and say companies have been able to meet the stricter requirements of states like North Carolina.
In its response to those questions, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which recommended the Water Control Board approve the permit changes, said the permits do meet the federal requirements for the discharge of “legacy” wastewaters such as those in coal ash ponds. The dismantling of those ponds must use the best available technology that is “economically achievable,” the department’s response states.
“EPA communicated to VADEQ that we believe they have demonstrated that the permit discharge limits in the revised draft permits are protective of water quality standards, and our agency had no further comments,” EPA spokesman David Sternberg wrote in a statement.
At the final hearing on Possum Point, Martin Gary, executive secretary of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, noted that a few Atlantic sturgeon, recently classified as endangered by the federal government, were recently discovered at the mouth of Quantico Creek. He also expressed concern about impacts of the pond draining on striped bass, which span in these reaches of the river, and on the growing blue catfish commercial fishery, among others, that flourish near the power station.
“Generally, when there’s a mention of Atlantic sturgeon in a particular habitat, all kinds of activities come to a halt,” Gary said of construction projects that have come to a standstill when the species is discovered nearby. “If you have to forgo dredging [in the river], why would you want to dump millions of gallons of contaminated water?”
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources also wrote a new 8-page letter to the Virginia board opposing the permit. It is not clear whether Maryland, whose state boundary includes the Potomac River to the Virginia shore and which shares responsibility for water quality in the river, will take further action to oppose the permit.
“The MDNR understand the need to remediate the existing coal ash ponds to comply with the [EPA’s Final Rule]. However, allowing the discharge of an unknown quantity of wastewater from coal ash ponds into Quantico Creek and the Potomac River with little or no treatment of the toxic chemicals contained in the leachate is not in keeping with the spirit or intent of the Final Rule,” the Maryland department wrote in its letter to the board.
According to the Physicians for Social Responsibility, human exposure to the heavy metals contained in coal ash can result in cancer, reproductive problems and birth defects. The EPA’s Final Rule states that coal ash ponds like the ones being drained present health and environmental risks if they are in unlined ponds that can leach into groundwater or cause catastrophic spills.
Possum Point is permitted to discharge more than 200 million gallons of treated water from its coal ash ponds with a limit of just over 2 million gallons a day. The treatment process is still to be determined by the company, but the contaminant levels they are required to meet are laid out in the permit.
Coal ash contains a variety of toxic contaminants, including arsenic, aluminum, barium and boron.
According to Dominion’s application, the water at the bottom of the pond contains arsenic at 960 parts per billion. Buppert of the environmental law center said that’s more than six times the state’s chronic toxicity standard for aquatic life.
By comparison, North Carolina set a limit for arsenic at 14.5 parts per billion in a recent permit to drain coal ash ponds.
Dennis Lemly, a research associate professor of biology at Wake Forest University who studies the effects of coal ash on aquatic life compiled a report on the Possum Point site that the Maryland DNR cited in its letter. Lemly found that ten of the eleven metals regulated by the draft permit were rated as high ecological hazards to fish and wildlife at the discharge concentrations it allows. In its response, Virginia DEQ discounted Lemly’s findings and said they had “no relationship to demonstrated toxicity.”
The James River Association has led opposition to the permit changes that will allow coal ash ponds at the Bremo Bluff power station to be drained into nearby waters. The association has raised concerns that such discharges would adversely impact recreational and fishing opportunities on the river.
Downriver from Bremo Bluff, two counties have a state-approved permit to withdraw water for drinking. A state-threatened green floater mussel also is found in the river near the pond.
Read our previous stories on this topic:
• Dominion’s permit to drain coal ash ponds into local waterways approved
• Dominion wants to drain coal ash ponds into local waterways
• Groups threaten suit over coal ash pits contaminating Virginia waters