James H Miller Power Plant has 25 groundwater monitoring wells, 21 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between July 19, 2016 and September 24, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of lithium, sulfate, cobalt, molybdenum, arsenic and boron.
Site descriptionAlabama Power Company’s James H. Miller, Jr., Electric Generating Plant opened in 1978 and is located on the Locust Fork branch of the Black Warrior River in Jefferson County, Alabama. Plant Miller operates four coal-fired units capable of producing 2,822-MW and disposes their coal ash waste in their onsite Plant Miller Ash Pond. The EPA’s 2017 Toxic Release Inventory found that the Plant Miller disposed more toxic metals into its unlined ash ponds than any other electric utility plant in Alabama (more than approximately 3,100,000 pounds). The Plant Miller Ash Pond is regulated under the CCR rule.
You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information on the Miller Power Plant, see EIP’s 2019 National Coal Ash Report Coal's Poisonous Legacy.