Northeastern Power Station has 22 groundwater monitoring wells, 15 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between March 10, 2010 and September 15, 2010. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of sulfate, arsenic, cobalt, selenium, lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, antimony, nitrate and copper.
Site descriptionPublic Service Company of Oklahoma, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), operates Northeastern Power Station, a 1,815-MW coal and natural gas-fired power plant located along the Verdigris River near Oologah, Oklahoma. The plant has disposed of coal ash in a 65-acre unlined ash landfill since 1978. As a result of legal action related to air pollution from the plant, AEP plans to retire the station's two coal-fire units in 2017 and 2026.
Northeastern Power Station's Ash Landfill is among the U.S. EPA's list of potential damage cases, indicating that it has potentially polluted groundwater or surface water at levels which threaten human health and the environment. For more information about Northeastern Power Station's Ash Landfill, see EIP's 2010 report, In Harm's Way.