PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Clermont County officials are worried about the flood’s impact on the former Walter C. Beckjord coal plant site, where leftover coal ash is stored in unlined pits perched on the Ohio River.
They worry that rising groundwater will directly mix with the toxic ash buried on site. They are concerned that neither the Ohio EPA nor the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was on site during the flood to inspect dams or ash pits.
“What the logical thing to do in a situation like this is that ODNR should have sent someone down to walk those pits and those ponds and to put eyes on the site,” said Pierce Township Trustee Allen Freeman. “That’s frustrating, it's angering that they just haven’t done that. And then to tell us, here’s a 1-800 number, or actually it was their dam hotline.”
The 1,200-acre site is in Pierce Township near New Richmond. But first responders have no authority to inspect the site, Freeman said.
“The way this system is set up, the township has almost no authority,” outside of perhaps zoning rules, Freeman said. “So, it’s really left up to the OEPA and also ODNR on how to kind of bring them to bear on various issues.”
Both state agencies confirmed they did not visit the former Beckjord site during this flood, and neither flagged any concerns.
“ODNR’s dam safety engineers spoke with Clermont County officials Sunday night regarding the dams. There are no known issues or concerns with these dams at this time. It also appears that the Ohio River is cresting this morning, so flood levels should start to decrease throughout the week,” said ODNR spokesperson Karina Cheung.
Built in the 1950s as a coal-burning giant, the Beckjord plant pumped electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across Southwest Ohio.
Duke Energy closed Beckjord in 2014 and sold it four years later to Missouri-based Commercial Liability Partners, and its subsidiary, New Richmond Development Corp., which hopes to redevelop it.
It appears that the only information about what is happening on site is coming from the CLP and its subcontractor FB Remediation, which told township officials that it is monitoring it 24 hours a day.
CLP did not return a request for comment.
WATCH: Breaking down the flooding's impact on the former Beckjord Coal plant
“The flooding of the Ohio River has not disturbed the coal ash ponds on the former Beckjord facility site. The engineering site manager was there this past weekend, monitoring the property and keeping Ohio EPA informed,” according to OEPA spokesperson Bryant Somerville.
That bothers Freeman, who said even if FB Remediation reports a dam leak or pond breach as it is supposed to, because no outside agency is on site, they could be delayed in responding to a crisis.
“How long is it going to take for ODNR to get on site? How long is it before OEPA can hit the site? An hour. Two hours. 24 hours. While its leaking, while they are trying to get a response to it,” Freeman said.
Township first responders have been asking CLP for the site’s emergency response plan for five years, but have never received it. While fire and rescue crews are tasked to respond to emergencies there, they have never trained on site and don’t know where buildings are located and what’s inside.
Freeman said he will ask state legislators who represent the district for help at the Clermont County Township Association Meeting on Monday night. He said he will eventually take his cause to Gov. Mike DeWine.
“I’m going to discuss the issue of bringing ODNA and OEPA to the table to specifically discuss what their emergency plans are,” Freeman said. “What is the monitoring plan for the next 100 years?”
Clermont County Emergency Management Agency also reached out to those two state agencies with their concerns.
“My concern is that the ground waters rise, as the Ohio River rises. If the groundwater rises above the bottom of the ash ponds, it may come in direct contact with the coal combustion residuals. This could result in increased CCR contaminants in the groundwater,” said Clermont County Director of Utilities Lyle Bloom.
County officials are skeptical of how well the site is monitored after several issues arose over the years, from missing groundwater monitoring wells to a smokestack landing in the Ohio River during demolition.
Coal ash is a by-product of burning coal, which contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium and arsenic, according to the U.S. EPA.
“In this case, I’m hopeful that this is high water like we’ve seen hundreds of times, and it recedes exactly as it’s supposed to. But you can never know what’s going to happen next,” Freeman said. “But in a dam breach, imagine all of that pollution sweeping out into the Ohio River and heading downstream.”
