Cope Generating Station has 11 groundwater monitoring wells, 4 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between May 12, 2016 and September 20, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of cobalt and radium.
Site descriptionSouth Carolina Electric and Gas Company’s Cope Generating Station is in Cope, South Carolina, bordering the northern Roberts Swamp in Orangeburg County. This plant began operations in 1996 and operates a single coal-fired unit capable of producing 417 MW. In 2019, the facility added the ability to be able to burn natural gas in addition to coal. The company has said that the plant will cease burning coal at the facility by 2030, only powered by natural gas at that point. There are currently no plans in place to close the ash landfill or the coal-fired unit. Cope Generating Station’s Class 3 Landfill is regulated under the CCR rule. You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information on Cope Generating Station, see EIP’s 2019 National Coal Ash Report.