Columbia Energy Center has 27 groundwater monitoring wells, 6 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between April 13, 2010 and April 14, 2015. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of molybdenum, selenium, arsenic, sulfate, manganese and boron.
Site descriptionColumbia Energy Center is a 1,023 MW coal-fired power plant that began operation in the 1970s. The plant operates three unlined surface impoundments, a cooling pond, and a landfill stormwater pond. A legal settlement was reached in 2013 between Alliant Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Sierra Club after violations of the Clean Air Act at several power plants, and included a mandate to improve pollution controls at Columbia Energy Center.
The Columbia Energy Center is listed among the U.S. EPA's proven damage cases, indicating that it has polluted groundwater or surface water at levels which threaten human health and the environment. For more information about Columbia Energy Center, see EIP's 2010 report In Harm's Way.
For more information on Wisconsin coal ash, see Earthjustice's fact sheet, Coal Ash Disposal and Reuse in Wisconsin.