Toxic Coal Ash Near the Great Lakes: Addressing Coal Plants’ Hazardous Legacy

For decades, utilities disposed of coal ash — the hazardous substance left after burning coal for energy — by dumping it in unlined ponds and landfills. There are 88 coal ash dumpsites within two miles of one of the Great Lakes.

After years of litigation and grassroots activism, on Apr. 25, 2024, the EPA issued a new rule that will force power plants to finally clean up their toxic coal ash. The EPA extended federal monitoring and cleanup requirements to hundreds of previously excluded older coal ash landfills and ponds that have been leaking toxic pollution into groundwater.

Note: Coal ash dumpsites referenced as “unregulated” throughout this page now are likely subject to federal regulation under the final rulemaking.

Coal ash contains hazardous pollutants including arsenic, boron, cobalt, chromium, lead, lithium, mercury, molybdenum, radium, selenium, and other heavy metals, which have been linked to cancer, heart and thyroid disease, reproductive failure, and neurological harm. In 2023, the EPA acknowledged that coal ash is even more dangerous than previously thought, with levels of arsenic and radiation that pose cancer risks.

Industry’s own data indicate that across the country 91% of coal plants are currently polluting groundwater above federal health standards with toxic pollutants.

Despite EPA’s 2015 Coal Ash Rule, which created the first-ever safeguards for coal ash disposal, many coal ash dumps remained unregulated due to sweeping exemptions for legacy coal ash ponds and inactive landfills. The exempted coal ash dumps are sited disproportionately in low-income communities and communities of color. The EPA extended clean up requirements to hundreds of old coal ash dumps across the country when it issued new regulations in the spring of 2024.

The NIPSCO R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield, Indiana, in 2018.
The NIPSCO R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield, Indiana, in 2018. (Alex Garcia for Earthjustice)

Coal ash remains one of our nation’s largest toxic industrial waste streams. U.S. coal plants continue to produce approximately 75 million tons every year.

In 2023, the EPA acknowledged widespread noncompliance with existing coal ash regulations and ramped up enforcement after designating coal ash a national enforcement priority.

Action Needed

The magnitude of harm from recklessly dumped toxic coal ash requires decisive action from federal and state regulators.

  • Utilities must be required to comply with the law and immediately clean up their pollution.
  • EPA and states must act quickly to ensure that utilities leave communities with sites that benefit rather than harm their health, environment, and economic status.
  • EPA must take action to prohibit the use of coal ash as construction fill and make polluters clean up areas where ash was used as fill.
Coal ash dump sites across the United States. Use this map to understand where coal ash might be stored near you and how a given site may be impacted by EPA's expansion of the federal Coal Ash Rule. (Caroline Weinberg / Earthjustice)

34 Regulated Coal Ash Disposal Sites within Two Miles of Great Lakes

Utilities operating coal plants within two miles of a Great Lake operate 34 federally regulated coal ash ponds and landfills at 16 plants that contain more than 57 million cubic yards of toxic waste.

At all but two of these coal plants, industry monitoring data indicate coal ash has caused significant groundwater contamination at regulated dumpsites.

The utilities, however, have failed to initiate any plant-wide cleanups to restore water resources despite the legal requirement to do so.

Waukegan IL Commonwealth Edison Co. 2 unlined ponds Sulfate (x1)
Bailly IN Northern Indiana Pub Serv Co 4 unlined ponds Arsenic (x8), Cadmium (x2), Lithium (x2), Molybdenum (x16), Thallium (x5)
Michigan City* IN Northern Indiana Public Service Company 2 unlined ponds Arsenic (x4), Boron (x2), Selenium (x1), Thallium (x2)
Dan E Karn MI Consumers Energy Co 1 unlined pond Arsenic (x45), Boron (x2), Lead (x2), Molybdenum (x1), Sulfate (x1)
J H Campbell MI Consumers Energy Co 3 unlined ponds, 1 landfill Antimony (x3), Arsenic (x29), Cobalt (x2), Lithium (x2), Molybdenum (x3), Selenium (x1), Thallium (x1)
J R Whiting MI Consumers Energy Co 2 unlined ponds Cobalt (x1), Lithium (x2), Thallium (x1)
Presque Isle MI We Energies 1 landfill No contaminants exceeding
J B Sims MI Grand Haven Board of Light and Power 2 unlined ponds Arsenic (x12), Boron (x75), Cobalt (x1), Fluoride (x4), Lithium (x50), Sulfate (x2)
J C Weadock MI Grand Haven Board of Light and Power 1 unlined pond, 1 landfill Arsenic (x8), Beryllium (x3), Boron (x2), Cobalt (x2), Lithium (x6), Molybdenum (x3), Sulfate (x4), Thallium (x1)
Monroe MI DTE Electric Co. 2 unlined ponds, 1 landfill Boron (x1), Lithium (x3), Sulfate (x3)
Shiras MI Marquette Board of Light & Power 1 unlined pond Cobalt (x1), Lead (x2)
Taconite Harbor MN Minnesota Power 1 landfill No contaminants exceeding
AES Somerset LLC NY Somerset Operating Company, LLC 1 unlined pond, 1 landfill Antimony (x4), Arsenic (x1), Boron (x69), Cobalt (x4), Lithium (x6), Sulfate (x4)
Dunkirk Generating Plant NY NRG 1 landfill Antimony (x3), Thallium (x2)
Edgewater WI Wisconsin Power & Light Co. 4 unlined ponds, 1 landfill Arsenic (x2), Boron (x5), Cobalt (x1), Lithium (x1), Molybdenum (x55)
South Oak Creek WI We Energies 1 landfill Molybdenum (x1)

* Michigan City Plant operates inactive coal ash ponds at the facility but has not reported the ponds on its CCR Rule Compliance Data and Information website nor has the owner complied with the CCR rule’s requirements that apply to these ponds, including groundwater monitoring, closure, and corrective action.

All data on groundwater contamination from coal ash derived from the utilities’ publicly accessible CCR Compliance Data and Information websites, and exceedances were calculated by Environmental Integrity Project.

For more information on regulated coal ash sites in Alabama and throughout the U.S., see Mapping the Coal Ash Contamination.

54 Coal Ash Legacy Ponds and Inactive Landfills near Great Lakes

March 2024 Update: The table below underestimates the legacy units that may be regulated by EPA’s upcoming CCR Legacy Pond Rule. Additional legacy units at specific plants may be found in the national map, above.

Utilities operating coal plants within two miles of a Great Lake operate host at least 54 inactive coal ash landfills and legacy ponds that escaped federal regulation. The exact number remains unknown because utilities were not required to report these sites.

These dumps are almost certainly contaminating water and threatening health and the environment; however, monitoring data are not currently available for most unregulated sites.

As we anticipate EPA’s proposed rule on legacy ponds and unregulated landfills in May 2023, a concern remains that the agency will not address coal ash that was dumped off site or used as fill.

Waukegan IL Commonwealth Edison Co. 0 1 Yes – EPA damage case
Bailly IN Northern Indiana Pub Serv Co 0 2 Yes – EPA damage case
Michigan City IN Northern Indiana Pub Serv Co 0 1 Yes – EPA damage case
Dean H Mitchell IN Northern Indiana Pub Serv Co 8 0 Unknown – no data
State Line Energy IN State Line Energy LLC 1 0 Unknown – no data
Dan E Karn MI Consumers Energy Co 0 1 Yes – Industry data
Harbor Beach MI Detroit Edison Co 3 0 Unknown – no data
J H Campbell MI Consumers Energy Co 0 6 Yes – EPA damage case
J R Whiting MI Consumers Energy Co 0 2 Yes – EPA damage case
Presque Isle MI We Energies 0 2 Yes – EPA damage case
Taconite Harbor Energy Center MN Minnesota Power 0 4 Unknown – no data
AES Somerset LLC NY Somerset Operating Company, LLC 0 2 Yes – Industry data
Avon Lake OH GenOn Power Midwest LP 2 1 Unknown – no data
FirstEnergy Ashtabula OH FirstEnergy Generation Corp 1 0 Unknown – no data
FirstEnergy Bay Shore OH FirstEnergy Generation Corp 1 1 Unknown – no data
FirstEnergy Eastlake OH FirstEnergy Generation Corp 1 1 Unknown – no data
FirstEnergy Lake Shore OH FirstEnergy Generation Corp 1 0 Unknown – no data
Bay Front WI Northern States Power Co - Minnesota 0 2 Yes – EPA damage case
Port Washington Generating Station WI Wisconsin Electric Power Co. 0 1 Yes – EPA damage case
Pulliam WI Wisconsin Public Service Corp 1 1 Yes – EPA damage case
Valley WI Wisconsin Electric Power Co 0 4 Yes – EPA damage case
Edgewater WI Wisconsin Power & Light Co. 0 1 Yes – EPA damage case
South Oak Creek WI We Energies 0 2 Yes – EPA damage case

These data were developed by using EPA datasets relied upon in their 2007 and 2014 CCR risk assessments (Human and Ecological Risk Assessment of Coal Combustion Residuals) and comparing those datasets to the universe of regulated units.

“Industry data”: Historical industry monitoring data is the basis of the finding of contamination. See Ashtracker.

“EPA damage case” denotes a site where US EPA has found documented groundwater contamination from coal ash.

For More Information

Christine Santillana, Legislative Counsel, Earthjustice, csantillana@earthjustice.org

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Earthjustice, levans@earthjustice.org.

More on Coal Ash Near the Great Lakes

Earthjustice fights in the courts for a long-term solution to the toxic menace of coal ash. And we act on behalf of dozens of clients and over 100 coalition partners to defeat legislative attempts to subvert federally enforceable safeguards of coal ash.

Earthjustice’s Clean Energy Program uses the power of the law and the strength of partnership to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy.