The Spruce coal plant sits behind Calaveras Lake. Photo by Emma Pabst
Yesterday afternoon, Sierra Club and Earthjustice filed comments in support of an EPA proposal to increase federal oversight of CPS Energy’s toxic coal ash ponds located at the Spruce coal plant. Among several violations of federal coal ash disposal standards, these unlined ponds are currently threatening Calaveras Lake and the area’s groundwater with contaminants that can seriously harm human health and the environment. Despite a nationwide requirement that utilities update their coal ponds by April of 2021, CPS Energy failed to bring their ponds into compliance, instead requesting a last-minute extension.
“It’s completely unacceptable to see CPS Energy kicking the can down the road on an issue that so directly affects our health and environment here in San Antonio,” said Emma Pabst, a Campaign Representative with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “CPS should be working to close the Spruce coal plant because of the harm it does to our community, not spending millions of dollars on a new coal ash pond. The least CPS Energy could do is clean up the mess that it’s making. We strongly support EPA’s proposal to monitor the clean up of these toxic ponds more closely and urge CPS Energy to act as soon as possible.”
Coal ash, which is produced from burning coal in coal-fired power plants, poses numerous threats to human health and the environment. Chemicals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury can leach from unlined ponds to contaminate ground and surface water, causing cancer, developmental delays, birth defects and more in people who consume or inhale these toxins. CPS Energy’s coal ash ponds are located over the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, which spans more than 60 Texas counties and supplies over 670,000 acre-feet of water per year to private well owners, municipalities, agricultural producers, and industry. The nearby Calaveras Lake is a popular fishing spot for locals. Utilities across the country have known for nearly a decade that coal ash ponds can harm human health.
The Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule, which regulates how utilities dispose of toxic coal ash, was passed under the Obama administration in 2015. The rule required utilities to update or line their ash ponds by April of 2021. CPS Energy continued to utilize its outdated ponds for years, instead approving $50 million in funding to construct a new pond in February of 2022 – nearly an entire year after EPA’s deadline.
CPS Energy’s current coal ash ponds are violating several provisions of the CCR Rule:
- CPS failed to demonstrate that the groundwater monitoring well placement and the networks for all four ash ponds are designed in compliance with required criteria.
- CPS failed to demonstrate that the groundwater monitoring well accurately represents the quality of groundwater around Calaveras Lake.
- Despite its inadequate groundwater monitoring network, CPS discovered statistically significant increases in numerous hazardous contaminants, including boron, chromium, cobalt, lithium, radium, and fluoride, as well as elevated levels of pH, calcium, and chloride, which are typically markers of additional pollutants.
- CPS tried asserting that the coal ash ponds were not the cause of the increased contamination and instead asserted that those pollutants were “naturally” occurring – an extremely flawed analysis.
- CPS failed to conduct adequate statistical groundwater analyses, as required by statute, between 2018 and 2021.
- CPS failed to properly evaluate and report combined concentrations of radium 226/228, as required by the CCR Rule.