JR Whiting Power Plant has 9 groundwater monitoring wells, 9 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between November 22, 2016 and November 13, 2017. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of lithium and sulfate.
Site descriptionJR Whiting Power Plant was a three-unit coal-fired power plant owned by Consumers Energy Company. The plant was located near Lake Erie Island in Erie, Michigan in Monroe County with a total capacity of 345-MW. The plant opened in 1952 and was retired in April 2016. Ponds 1 and 2 are regulated under the CCR rule. Ponds 1 and 2 are located to the east of the plant and north of the discharge canal, were constructed in native clay soil and used historically for wet ash transportation. Fly ash generated through the coal burning process was transported using water from the Inlet Channel and Fore Bay and disposed in the on‐site ash ponds.
You can find the industry-reported data here. For more information about the JR Whiting Power Plant, see EIP's 2019 National Coal Ash Report.