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An environmental advocacy group in Birmingham says it intends to sue Alabama Power, alleging the utility’s coal ash pond in Gadsden is polluting groundwater.
“The stacks at Plant Gadsden may be gone, but Alabama Power’s legacy of pollution remains,” said Justinn Overton, the executive director and riverkeeper at Coosa Riverkeeper. “Alabama Power cannot knowingly leave a leaking coal ash pond in place upstream from Gadsden’s drinking water intake and booming ecotourism developments and call themselves good neighbors.”
On Tuesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Coosa Riverkeeper, filed a notice of intent to sue Alabama Power, alleging that the coal ash pond adjacent to the now-shuttered Gadsden Steam Power Plant is leaching into groundwater. The environmental groups say that even after the utility capped and closed the pond, the pollution continues to violate federal hazardous waste and coal ash regulations.
A representative for Alabama Power did not immediately issue a comment to AL.com.
Nearly 40% of the 1.5 million tons of coal ash stored in the pond is saturated with water, according to the environmental groups. The ash is stored in an unlined pond on the banks of the Coosa River.
Coal ash is one of the byproducts of burning coal to generate electricity. It contains heavy metal contaminants like mercury, arsenic and cadmium.
Alabama Power’s method of storing the coal ash in an unlined pond in Gadsden does not meet the necessary standards for protecting nearby groundwater, the environmental groups allege. In October of 2024, the utility’s testing showed the level of arsenic in the groundwater was nearly 40 times higher than the standard, according to a news release from the Southern Environmental Law Center.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management fined Alabama Power $250,000 in 2019 for high levels of arsenic and radium in the groundwater near the Gadsden pond.
In addition, the environmental groups allege that Alabama Power’s groundwater monitoring system is not adequate for measuring the coal ash contamination of the water.
The Southern Environmental Law Center also argues that leaving the coal ash in place poses an economic threat to the area: the pond is less than a mile upstream from the Gadsden Water Works drinking water intake, which serves more than 14,000 people, the news release said.
The coal ash pond is near Twin Bridges Golf Course and upstream from Coosa Landing and downtown Gadsden.
“Alabama Power has zero excuses for leaving its leaking waste dump in the middle of the commercial riverfront area of Gadsden and exposing the community to this hazard,” Barry Brock, director of the law center’s Alabama office, said in the news release. “Other utilities across the South are cleaning up unlined coal ash dumps and moving waste to safer storage away from our waterways. Alabama Power must do the same in Gadsden.”
Alabama Power — and other utilities in the state — have for decades stored coal ash in unlined ponds. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rejected the state of Alabama’s plan for regulating coal ash impoundments, which would have allowed the utilities to keep coal in unlined ponds.
The Southern Environmental Law Center and Mobile Baykeeper, an environmental advocacy group in south Alabama, sued Alabama Power, arguing that the utility’s plan to keep the unlined coal ash pond north of Mobile covered in place violated federal coal ash standards. The coal ash pond adjacent to Plant Barry contains 22 million tons of ash, around a quarter of the state’s coal ash.
A federal judge in Mobile dismissed the case, arguing that the environmental groups did not have standing. That case was appealed and remains pending.
Coosa Riverkeeper and the Southern Environmental Law Center intend to file a federal lawsuit in 60 days.
“It’s time for Alabama Power to do the right thing and move their ash,” said riverkeeper Justinn Overton.
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