May 3, 2023
Toxic Coal Ash in Florida: 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. Florida has 28 coal ash dumpsites.
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.
Industry’s own data indicate that across the country 91% of coal plants are currently polluting groundwater above federal health standards with toxic pollutants.
Coal ash remains one of our nation’s largest toxic industrial waste streams. U.S. coal plants continue to produce approximately 70 million tons every year.
Despite EPA’s 2015 Coal Ash Rule, which created the first-ever safeguards for coal ash disposal, many coal ash dumps remain 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 issued a proposed rule to address most of these exemptions on May 17, 2023.
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 make enforcement a priority and act quickly to ensure that utilities leave communities with sites that benefit rather than harm their health, environment, and economic status.
- EPA must swiftly strengthen the Coal Ash Rule to address the many legacy ponds and inactive landfills that are unregulated, and to prohibit coal ash used as fill unless protective measures are put in place, to ensure all Florida communities are protected from coal ash pollution.
15 Regulated Coal Ash Disposal Sites in Florida
Florida utilities operate 15 federally regulated coal ash ponds and landfills containing 16.7 million cubic yards of toxic waste at nine coal plants.
At all Florida plants, industry monitoring data indicate that groundwater is contaminated above federal safe standards.
Despite the serious water contamination, no Florida plant, to date, has selected a final plan to clean up groundwater, as required by state and federal law.
| Big Bend* | Apollo Beach | TECO Energy | 2 unlined ponds | Molybdenum (x2), Radium 226+228 (x7) |
| CD McIntosh | Chesterton | Lakeland Electric | 1 landfill | Antimony (x1), Arsenic (x10), Boron (x1), Lithium (x77), Radium 226+228 (x11), Sulfate (x3) |
| Crystal River | Crystal River | Duke Energy | 2 unlined ponds, 1 landfill | Arsenic (x144), Boron (x3), Lithium (x10), Molybdenum (x5), Radium 226+228 (x3), Sulfate (x2) |
| Deerhaven | Gainesville | Gainesville Reg Utilities | 1 unlined pond, 1 landfill | Boron (x2), Lithium (x4), Molybdenum (x3), Radium 226+228 (x1) |
| OUC Stanton Energy Center | Orlando | Orlando Utilities Commission | 1 landfill | Arsenic (x9), Cobalt (x3), Fluoride (x5), Lead (x1), Lithium (x4), Molybdenum (x1), Radium 226+228 (x3), Selenium (x2), Sulfate (x2) |
| Plant Crist | Pensacola | Gulf Power | 1 unlined pond, 2 landfills | Boron (x34), Cadmium (x1), Cobalt (x10), Mercury (x2), Molybdenum (x34), Radium 226+228 (x5), Sulfate (x1) |
| Plant Smith | Southport | Gulf Power | 1 unlined pond | Arsenic (x2), Boron (x9), Lithium (x5), Radium 226+228 (x9), Sulfate (x2) |
| Seminole | Palatka | Seminole Electric Coop | 1 landfill | Boron (x2), Molybdenum (x2), Radium 226+228 (x2), Sulfate (x2) |
| St. Johns River | Jacksonville | Jacksonville Electric Auth | 1 landfill | Boron (x17), Molybdenum (x2), Radium 226+228 (x2), Sulfate (x3) |
* The Big Bend 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 Florida, see Mapping the Coal Ash Contamination.
13 Unregulated Coal Ash Legacy Ponds and Inactive Landfills in Florida (ash dumps exempted from the 2015 Coal Ash Rule)
In addition, Florida hosts at least 13 unregulated inactive coal ash landfills and legacy ponds that escape federal regulation. The exact number remains unknown because utilities are 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.
| Big Bend | Apollo Beach | TECO Energy | 0 | 1 | Yes – EPA damage case |
| CD McIntosh | Chesterton | Lakeland Electric | 0 | 1 | Yes – EPA damage case |
| Crystal River | Crystal River | Duke Energy | 0 | 1 | Yes – Industry data |
| Plant Smith | Southport | Gulf Power | 0 | 1 | Yes – EPA damage case |
| Northside Generating Station | Jacksonville | Jacksonville Electric Authority | 0 | 1 | Yes – Industry data |
| OUC Stanton Energy Center | Orlando | Orlando Utilities Commission | 0 | 1 | Yes – EPA damage case |
| Polk | Mulberry | TECO Energy | 0 | 1 | Unknown |
| Scholz | Sneads | Southern Company | 3 | 0 | Unknown |
| Seminole | Palatka | Seminole Electric Coop | 0 | 1 | Yes – EPA damage case |
| St. Johns River | Jacksonville | Jacksonville Electric Authority | 0 | 2 | Yes – Industry data |
Crystal River Plant's evidence of site contamination: Industry monitoring data posted on the plant’s CCR Compliance Data and Information website.
Northside Generating Station's evidence of site contamination: Industry monitoring is the basis of a finding of contamination as described on Ashtracker.
St. Johns River Plant's evidence of site contamination: Industry monitoring data posted on the plant’s CCR Compliance Data and Information website.
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.
“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 in Florida
- Poisonous Coverup: The Widespread Failure of the Power Industry to Clean Up Coal Ash Dumps (November 3, 2022)
- Protecting Florida’s Apalachicola River from Coal Ash Pollution (July 1, 2015)
- Coal Plant Exploits Private Information Ruling to Hide Toxic Ash (December 15, 2014)
- Florida, Kentucky Rivers Poisoned by Coal Ash (June 10, 2014)
- Tr-Ash Talk: Danger in the Schoolyard (May 2, 2013)
- Florida's Water Is Looking Ashen (March 8, 2013)
Coal Ash in States, Territories, Regions
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.