Coal Ash Polluting the Will County Area

Last month reports came out by the Environmental Integrity Project about Illinois’ ash ponds. The reports found 90 percent of coal ash dump sites in the state have leaked heavy metals and other toxins into nearby the watersheds.

According to environmentalintegrity.org, “Coal ash dump sites across Illinois are responsible for contaminating groundwater with arsenic, cobalt, lithium and other toxins. Coal ash contains a brew of hazardous pollutants such as arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, radium, selenium and more, which can severely harm human health, fish and wildlife."

Currently Will County has four coal ash ponds that are owned by Midwest Generation. However, two of the ponds haven’t been used since 2010. The Midwest Generation operates the other two power plants on either side of the Des Plaines River in Joliet. The ash ponds are called Joliet 9 and Joliet 29. According to the report from the Environmental Integrity Project, Joliet 9 is an old quarry that is now filled with water and coal ash. From reading the report, it states that Joliet 9 is one of the most contaminated in the state. In the Will County area, there is also another pond near Romeoville that is used to dump coal ash.

Recently there has been a report done that stated the water is still safe to drink. In a news release by the village of Romeoville, they stated that they are confident that there is no impact to its water system from the facility. State Rep. John Connor released a statement saying there will be a change to handle the coal ash pollution.