W.S Lee Steam Electric Plant has 30 groundwater monitoring wells, 25 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between July 18, 2016 and March 07, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of cobalt, radium, lithium, antimony, beryllium, arsenic, molybdenum and sulfate.
Site descriptionDuke Energy Company’s W.S. Electric Steam Generating Plant was in Pelzer, South Carolina along the Banks of the Saluda River in Grenville County. Plant Lee began operations in 1951 and had three coal-fired units with a combined capacity of 355-MW. Two of these units were retired in 2014, while a third unit was converted to natural gas in 2015. This plant operated an onsite primary and secondary ash basin that are still regulated under the CCR-rule. You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information on W.S. Lee Electric Steam Station, see EIP’s 2019 National Coal Ash Report.