Laramie River Station has 20 groundwater monitoring wells, 17 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between August 31, 2016 and October 23, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of lithium, sulfate, molybdenum, selenium, beryllium, boron and arsenic.
Site descriptionBasin Electric Power Cooperative’s Laramie River Station began operating in 1980 and is located near Chugcreek, Wyoming in Platte County. It has three units with the total capacity of 1,710 MW. Coal ash is disposed at the station in the following CCR units: Ash Pond 1, Ash Pond 2, Ash Pond 3, Ash Landfill and Emergency Storage. The ash landfill and three ash ponds are located west of the generating units and office complex, near the western edge of the site. The two emergency holding ponds are located north of the generating units. The landfill and ash ponds were permitted in 1978 and began receiving coal ash in 1980. The emergency holding ponds were subsequently incorporated due to disposal of FGD materials. As reported in 2014, the landfill received 284,119 tons of solid waste, including fly ash, FGD waste, and a minor contribution of solid debris. You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information on the Laramie River Station, see EIP’s 2019 National Coal Ash Report .