Dive Brief:
- Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Integrity Project want Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection to nix a plan by FirstEnergy Corp. to ship coal ash from the Bruce Mansfield coal-fired power plant in Shippingport to a Greene County landfill.
- FirstEnergy recently applied with Pennsylvania DEP to change its permit for the closed Hatfield Ferry power plant landfill in Monongahela Twp. The company hopes to put 2.5 million tons of coal ash each year in the landfill.
- Depositing the coal ash in the now-closed landfill means a 113-mile trip upriver. But some sort of trip is needed, due to recent changes in how the federal government classifies coal ash, and the need to no longer place the waste in surface impoundments.
Dive Insight:
Little Blue Run coal ash impoundment, which is located in Greene Twp. And Hancock Cty., as of Dec. 31, 2016 will no longer be able to take coal ash waste. The site is slated to close by the end of 2028. It has caused friction between residents and the utility, over residents' concerns regarding leaks from the impoundment.
