Big Cajun II Power Plant

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Snapshot

Big Cajun II Power Plant has 15 groundwater monitoring wells, 9 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between March 10, 2010 and October 09, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of sulfate, arsenic, boron, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, lead, mercury and thallium.

Site description

Louisiana Generating's Big Cajun II Power Plant is located on the Mississippi River in New Roads, Louisiana in Point Coupee Parish and was first built in 1981. The plant used to operate three coal-fired units with a total capacity of 1,708-MW. Unit 2 stopped burning coal in 2015 and was converted to a 540-MW natural gas plant in 2016. Unit 1 is planned for retirement in 2025. Five solid waste-permitted surface impoundments (Fly Ash Basin, Bottom Ash Basin, Rainfall Surge Pond, Primary Treatment Pond, and Secondary Treatment Pond) are utilized to manage coal ash materials and other process wastewaters. The Fly Ash and Bottom Ash Basins occupy 240 acres and are designed to store/dispose these two types of coal ash materials. Coal ash materials from silos are transported by truck to the Fly Ash Basin (or offsite to a permitted landfill for disposal). Bottom ash from Unit 1 is sluiced to the Bottom Ash Basin. Unit 3 bottom ash is hauled to the basin in trucks. Only the Fly Ash and Bottom Ash Basins are regulated under the CCR unit.

You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information about the Big Cajun II Power Plant, see EIP's 2019 National Coal Ash Report.

Monitoring Wells Wells reporting one or more exceedances for at least one pollutant.
9 / 15
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No exceedances
One or more exeedances
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Well "halo" size corresponds to mean concentration. Please note that some wells may not be visible on the map due to overlapping locations.
Pollutants monitored and above guidelines
Tip: Click on a contaminant to view wells that have recorded exceedances. Click again to remove the filter. antimony arsenic beryllium boron cadmium cobalt lead mercury sulfate thallium
Pollutants monitored and below guidelines
barium chromium copper fluoride lithium molybdenum nickel radium selenium silver
Pollutants not monitored
ammonia, cyanide, gross alpha particle, gross beta particle, hexavalent chromium, manganese, nitrate, nitrite, strontium, tritium, uranium

Facility last updated on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 10:38:16 AM EDT