What does EIP's report say specifically about Otter Tail's Big Stone facility in northeast South Dakota?
- There is "Demonstrated damage to groundwater moving off-site (at northern and eastern property boundaries and south toward the Whetstone River)."
- "21 of 25 monitoring wells report exceedances of groundwater standards downgradient of CCW disposal units in two aquifers. Arsenic has been up to 13 times and lead up to 7 times the MCL, boron up to 34 times the Lifetime Health Advisory and sulfate up to 224 times the SMCL at 56,000 mg/L. Despite mounding of groundwater at the property lines, no monitoring of nearby ponds or private wells has occurred."
- There are 119 wells within 5 miles of the plant, as are the Whetstone River and Big Stone Lake. ["In Harm's Way: Lack of Federal Coal Ash Regulations Endangers Americans and Their Environment," Jeff Stant, project director & editor, Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, Sierra Club, 2010.08.26]
Now remember, Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin says we don't need EPA regulations on coal ash, since that might hurt business.
Let's hope that, as the EPA beings public hearings on its proposed coal ash rules next week, it ignores the profit-über-alles propaganda of Herseth Sandlin (oh, and Heartland Consumer Power District) and pays attention to the real contamination produced by Big Stone and other coal-burning power plants around the country.
Coal is cheap ... except when you have to clean up the messes it creates, and then who pays the tab around the world?
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