As Floodwaters Rise, So Do the Risks of Coal Ash Contamination

Dear Editor,

Indiana has experienced record-setting rains in these first few weeks of spring, causing disastrous flooding in some areas of the state.

Our state also has historically relied on coal as an energy source. 

You might be asking: What does coal have to do with all that rain falling from the skies into our water supply? It turns out quite a bit. As we burn coal, we generate coal ash, which has serious implications for our water. It needs to be part of Indiana’s current discussion of water resources. 

Coal ash contains toxic heavy metals, like arsenic, which contaminate water whenever the ash gets wet. Most of Indiana’s coal ash sites have contaminated the underlying groundwater, making it unusable for drinking water.

Indiana’s coal ash is also a spill risk because most of it is currently stored in the floodplains of the Ohio, Wabash and White Rivers and Lake Michigan. When flooding happens, it could damage the disposal sites causing release of the ash. The recent high-water events are a stark reminder that the floodplain is one of the worst locations for coal ash disposal.

The current groundwater contamination and spill risk are from the many millions of tons of coal ash left over from past decades of burning coal. Unfortunately, Indiana still has coal-burning power plants that continue to produce about five million tons of coal ash each year, putting more of our water at risk. 

Our state needs less toxic coal ash, not more. Coal generation itself and the byproduct of coal ash it produces pollutes our air and water. Spills and leaks in other states have validated the dangers of coal ash. 

In 2014, a drainage pipe burst at a retired Duke Energy facility in North Carolina, releasing approximately 39,000 tons of coal ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated water into a nearby river. 

This spill, one of the largest in U.S. history, contaminated about 70 miles of the river with toxic substances including arsenic, selenium and lead, posing significant risks to aquatic ecosystems and communities relying on the river for drinking water and recreation. The incident exposed regulatory failures and led to federal investigations into Duke Energy’s practices and its relationship with state regulators.

In 2022, the Hoosier Environmental Council estimated that Duke Energy Indiana was burning enough coal to generate more than 1.4 million tons of coal ash per year, adding to the hundreds of thousands of tons already being stored across the state. 

The good news is that lawmakers and Gov. Mike Braun have prioritized water planning in the coming years, both via recently passed legislation and a new executive order. 

The bad news is that those same policymakers seem infatuated with keeping coal as an energy source for decades to come despite overwhelming economic and health reasons to move away from coal toward cleaner, more efficient energy sources. 

Burning coal is bad for our state. Storing coal ash in floodplains that could overflow in a heavy rain creates yet another unfair burden and health threat to local communities. To protect our water resources, we need to stop burning coal and adopt a responsible approach to coal ash disposal as soon as possible. 

Indra Frank

Coal Ash Advisor

Hoosier Environmental Council