FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Contact: Hannah Lee Flath, hannahlee.flath@sierraclub.org, 860-634-0225
SPRINGFIELD, IL. -- This week, City Water, Light, and Power (CWLP) submitted its application to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) for a coal ash closure permit, as required under state coal ash regulations in accordance with Federal coal ash rules. CWLP’s application includes its original proposed plan to cap its coal ash impoundments on site, which sit right above and come into contact with groundwater. This permit application is yet another example of CWLP disregarding the significant concerns and opposition raised by local residents and environmental advocates.
In response to the permit application announcement, Sierra Club Illinois, Prairie Rivers Network, and NAACP released the following statement:
“While it’s not surprising CWLP still wants to cap the coal ash in place, it is infuriating,” says Nick Dodson, Springfield resident and ExCom member of the Sangamon Valley Group of Sierra Club Illinois. “Every member of our community has a right to a safe environment and it’s unconscionable that our elected leaders are choosing to put us in harm's way instead of taking the safest option and removing the ash once and for all. We’ve heard the city say the coal ash is too expensive to move, but what's the price tag on community health? Groundwater contamination can have devastating effects on public health. The federal coal ash ruling was made in 2015, and CWLP has known this would impact them for nearly seven years. They’ve chosen the irresponsible path by doing little to nothing to mitigate this.”
“The city decided to burn coal decades ago, and now that it’s time to clean up the coal ash mess CWLP created, our leaders refuse,” says Teresa Haley, Branch and State President of the NAACP. “What’s the point of having a city-run utility if the people who run it don’t care about the people who live here? For the first time in years, the City of Springfield has a budget surplus, and yet CWLP has made no changes in their plans to leave coal ash leaching into our groundwater. We’re tired of waiting on CWLP and this City’s leadership as they search for loopholes and choose the cheapest and most risky way forward. We ask that all concerned residents join us in demanding our city’s leaders do the right thing by all of us.”
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently taken key steps to protect groundwater from coal ash contamination, but Illinois continues to lag behind,” says Andrew Rehn, Water Resources Engineer with Prairie Rivers Network. “The IEPA must deny CWLP’s permit application to cap its coal ash impoundments on site and demand they remove all coal ash from the impoundments, instead of leaving it to seep into groundwater and put local Springfield residents and our shared environment at risk.”