C.D. McIntosh Jr. Power Plant has 40 groundwater monitoring wells, 7 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between January 10, 2012 and July 17, 2015. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of sulfate, manganese, arsenic and nitrate.
Site descriptionLakeland Electric's C.D. McIntosh Jr. Power Plant is located in Lakeland, Florida near Lake Parker, a densely-populated, popular recreation area. The site covers 530 acres, much of which is covered by water and man-made former phosphate mining pits that are now managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In 2000, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection entered into a consent order with Lakeland Electric concerning deficiencies in its coal combustion waste landfill operations and plant. These violations included discharges of leachate into a storm water swale, pumping liquid waste from the settling ponds into the landfill, failing to submit groundwater monitoring reports for 10 years from 1990-1999, and illegally discharging industrial wastewater. As a result of the consent order, the facility had to complete an assessment of the site, conduct extensive groundwater monitoring, and develop a groundwater monitoring plan for continued groundwater monitoring.
According to an April 2013 consent order closure letter, the plant was assessed $180,691 in penalties.
This site is among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency'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 regarding C.D. McIntosh Jr. Power Plant, visit SoutheastCoalAsh.org.