Lawsuit filed against powerplant after reports find toxic metals, chemicals in groundwater

YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against Talen Energy Corporation and Brunner Island for allegedly failing to control toxic coal ash pollution risks from a storage impoundment on the banks of the Susquehanna River.

Brunner Island, a power plant in York Haven, stores larges amounts of coal-combustion residual wastes, which are toxic mixtures of heavy metals and contaminants, including the following chemicals that are harmful to both animals and people:

• Cadium
• Chromium
• Lead
• Radium
• Arsenic

The lawsuit states that Brunner Island Electric Station did not comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations regarding coal ash Basin 5, which requires groundwater monitoring and other protective measures that Brunner Island allegedly did not provide. These cited failures resulted in pollution discharges and “catastrophic” coal ash ponds.

Basin 5 holds about 5.5 million cubic yards of this waste, which the suit states is “about 20% more than the interior volume of the Superdome in New Orleans.” Documents from Brunner Island state that Basin 5 is filled with 40 feet of toxic coal ash, 15 feet of which is under the groundwater line.

The coal industry should not be allowed to ignore these commonsense steps to protect our waters, wildlife and people from toxic waste,” said Ragan Whitlock, an attorney at the Center. "In the absence of meaningful state and federal enforcement, the Center is now picking up the ball to safeguard our environment.

Public reports from the company state that in the first quarter of 2024, high levels of lithium, aluminum, arsenic, molybdenum and manganese were found in the groundwater near coal ash Basin 5.

Brunner Island claims that Basin 5 is exempt from the EPA regulation because it doesn’t store coal-combustion residual wastes and liquids,” said Jim Hecker, senior attorney with Public Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Project. “But its own documents show that it does.

The lawsuit also states that Brunner Island failed to make this information publicly available, which is a requirement by EPA standards.