Fern Valley Disposal Site has 8 groundwater monitoring wells, 6 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between March 25, 2010 and March 14, 2016. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of sulfate, manganese, arsenic, barium, chromium and nitrate.
Site descriptionNRG's Fern Valley Landfill received fly ash from Elrama Generating Station from 1989 to 2003. The landfill is located on the west side of the Monongahela River in Elrama, Pennsylvania. In 2002, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued several notices of violation to the operators of the site for placing coal ash beyond the boundaries of the permitted landfill and for failing to report monitoring data in 2002. The landfill was officially closed in 2007.
Fern Valley Landfill is listed among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proven damage cases, indicating that it has polluted groundwater or surface water at levels which threaten human health and the environment. For more information about the Fern Valley Landfill, see EIP's 2010 report, Out of Control.