Today, the Environmental Integrity Project and co-counsel Public Justice sent another notice of intent to sue (“NOI”) letter to FirstEnergy for violations of the Clean Water Act and Clean Streams Law at the largest coal ash pond in the nation, the Little Blue Run Impoundment, on behalf of their client the Little Blue Regional Action Group (“LBRAG”).
The NOI was send after an LBRAG member collected water samples in Mill Creek that contained levels of pollutants high enough to exceed water quality standards for the protection of human health and aquatic life. Samples collected downstream of where water from the Impoundment enters Mill Creek revealed concentrations of boron and selenium that exceed Pennsylvania Water Quality Criteria (“WQC”) for fish and aquatic life, concentrations of arsenic and selenium that exceed federal drinking water standards, and concentrations of molybdenum that exceed federal health advisories. In total, there were at least eight exceedances of chronic PA WQC, four exceedances of federal drinking water standards, and three exceedances of federal health advisories. The concentrations in Mill Creek above standards designed to protect aquatic life and public health show that discharges from Outfall 021 “may cause or contribute to an impact on aquatic life or pose a substantial hazard to human health or the environment” in violation of FirstEnergy’s NPDES permit, and therefore in violation of the federal Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.
For a copy of the NOI, click here.
