Independence Steam Station has 21 groundwater monitoring wells, 4 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between May 26, 2010 and September 09, 2019. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of boron, lithium, manganese, sulfate and selenium.
Site descriptionEntergy's Independence Steam Station is in Newark, Arkansas in Independence County, about four miles from the confluence of the Black and White Rivers. It is a two-unit, 1,678-MW coal-fired facility built in the early 1980s, and Entergy announced that it will be retired by 2030. Coal ash waste from the plant is disposed of in a landfill. The plant also operates two wastewater recycle ponds and one surge pond. The CCR Landfill is regulated under the CCR rule.
Independence Steam Station is listed among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's potential damage cases, indicating that activities at the site have potentially contributed to groundwater contamination. You can find the industry reported data here. For more information on the Independence Steam Station, see EIP’s 2019 National Coal Ash Report Coal's Poisonous Legacy.