Big Sandy Plant has 15 groundwater monitoring wells, 10 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between September 08, 2016 and November 28, 2017. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of arsenic, radium, cobalt, sulfate, beryllium and lithium.
Site descriptionBig Sandy Plant is a 295-MW natural gas-powered facility owned by American Electric Power in Louisa, Kentucky. It was previously built in 1963 and powered by two coal-fired units with a capacity of 1,097-MW. Unit 1 was closed in November 2015 and was converted to a natural gas plant in May 2016. Big Sandy Unit 2 was shut down in May 2015. The plant has two ash disposal areas regulated under the federal coal ash rule: the Big Sandy Plant Bottom Ash and Big Sandy Plant Fly Ash. Big Sandy's Fly Ash impoundment is on the EPA's 2009 High Hazard Potential Ratings list.
You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information about the Big Sandy Plant, see EIP's 2019 National Coal Ash Report.