Residents Fight Use of Power Plant Ash Near Water

Environmentalists and some area residents are appealing a state permit that would allow the owner of Rockport River Terminal in Spencer County to use power plant ash as construction fill near the town water supply.

After a yearlong process, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources approved the business’ permit in April. However, it is being appealed by the groups Save Our Rivers and Save Our Land & Environment and several area residents.

A major source of groundwater stretches beneath the site along the Ohio River, providing a water source for the Indiana towns of Rockport and Grandview. The town of Rockport serves nearly 1,200 water customers, according to the town utility office. That concerns Save Our Rivers’ Don Mottley.

“There are too many people who depend on this aquifer. We don’t need another Pines here in Southwest Indiana,” Mottley said.

The Northwest Indiana town of Pines was declared a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site in 2000 after a plume of groundwater contamination was discovered. The pollution was traced to power plant fly ash, which was disposed of in a landfill near the town.

“That was in a landfill with liners and monitors,” Mottley said. “They are not proposing any monitoring here.”

Rockport River Terminal President Bruce Kanipe on Monday declined to speak about the project while the appeal is still open. However, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, fly ash and bottom ash from American Electric Power will be used to fill an 1,100-foot-by-500-foot area in the Ohio River floodway.

Fly ash can contain toxic metals and minerals such as arsenic, mercury, chromium, cadmium and boron, which can leach from the waste when it comes in contact with water.

Rockport Mayor Beth Packer confirmed on Monday that the town has become an intervener in the appeal because of concerns. So far, Packer said, nobody has been able to assure town officials that fly ash is safe.

“We don’t want to cause any trouble with the river terminal, but we want to protect our drinking water,” Packer said.

A pre-hearing conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the DNR’s Division of Oil and Gas Field Office in the Angel Mounds State Historic Site interpretive center. No hearing date for the appeal has been set.