Leland Olds Station has 23 groundwater monitoring wells, 21 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between May 26, 2010 and October 08, 2012. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of sulfate, manganese, arsenic, selenium and lead.
Site descriptionBasin Electric Power Cooperative's Leland Olds Station is located southeast of Stanton, North Dakota on the Missouri River. The station has three active, clay-lined coal ash disposal ponds and two decommissioned coal ash ponds. As of 2011, bottom ash was disposed of on-site and fly ash was stored in the former Glenharold Mine located approximately two miles south of the site. Glenharold Mine Landfill is located on the Missouri River Aquifer and is drained by an intermittent stream named Alderin Creek, which flows into the Missouri River.
Three municipal drinking water wells are located within 5 miles of Leland Olds Station.The Environmental Protection Agency identified Leland Olds as a potential damage case in 2007 and classified all three ash ponds as significant-hazard dams in 2011.
Read EIP's 2010 report In Harm's Way for more information about Leland Olds Station.