Coal Ash Waste from MidAmerican Coal Plants Poses Immediate and Long-term Health Threat to Iowans

IOWA — Analysis from the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University, released today by Sierra Club and the Iowa Environmental Council, highlights how elevated levels of toxins from MidAmerican Energy’s coal ash waste pose significant health threats to Iowans. This analysis comes at a time when energy companies across the country are trying to roll back coal ash regulation and harmful health impacts from coal ash waste are being discovered. 

The new analysis from the Clinic, in collaboration with Sierra Club, provides details on groundwater contamination from coal ash waste around five coal plants MidAmerican owns and operates in Iowa. The groundwater monitoring data summarized in the analysis was conducted and self-reported by MidAmerican under federal rules. 

MidAmerican has disposed of coal ash waste in at least nine coal ash ponds (wet ash storage) and six landfills (dry ash storage), totaling more than 700 acres in size and up to 135 feet deep. Coal ash waste, the byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity, is a hazardous substance that can leak into nearby groundwater and put human health at risk. This waste contains harmful pollutants like mercury, arsenic, lead, and other toxic metals that can lead to cancer, various diseases, and both physical and neurological harm. 

“If coal was a food, the FDA would have banned it years ago. There is no conflicting research, no unclear science: Coal is poisonous, yet it ends up in our groundwater which means it ends up in the water we drink and the food we eat,” said Emma Colman, Senior Campaign Organizer at Sierra Club. “Governor Reynolds outlined the importance of energy and public health in her priorities for the year, and having the Iowa DNR mitigate and manage MidAmerican’s coal ash waste would be crucial to protecting the health of Iowans.”

The groundwater data collected by MidAmerican over the last several years around its coal ash ponds and landfills show significantly elevated levels of toxic heavy metals and pollutants, including arsenic, radium, and lithium. In some instances, storage sites were unlined, enabling these toxins to seep into nearby water sources. While MidAmerican no longer deposits waste in some ash ponds, the contamination remains indefinitely and continues to pose risks to human health and the environment.

“The Iowa Environmental Council is extremely concerned about the evidence showing widespread contamination of groundwater at MidAmerican's coal ash facilities,” said Kerri Johannsen, Senior Director of Policy and Programs at the Iowa Environmental Council. “The company must take responsibility, clean up this toxic pollution, and announce a plan to move away from coal to energy sources that do not endanger Iowans and our precious water resources.” 

Key findings from the analysis of MidAmerican’s own groundwater monitoring data at its coal ash ponds and landfills include:

Ottumwa Coal Plant (Ottumwa)

Groundwater monitoring shows maximum lithium levels 6-7 times the federal Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule standard consistently since 2020. Lithium can cause negative gastrointestinal and neurological effects. Long-term exposure may result in thyroid, kidney, and heart issues.

Maximum cobalt concentrations have exceeded both background levels and water quality standards, with maximum concentrations exceeding federal CCR rule standards by 1100% in 2021. Consistent exposure to high levels of cobalt has been linked to heart and thyroid problems. Animal studies also found high level exposure to cause blood, liver damage, kidney, and testes damage, behavioral effects, and birth defects.

The two background monitoring wells at the Ottumwa Ash Landfill show extremely high levels of boron and sulfate, both indicators of coal ash. 

George Neal North Coal Plant (Sioux City)

Ash ponds 1, 2, and 3A detected contaminants arsenic, cobalt, and lithium at concentrations above the EPA’s Maximum Contamination Level (MCL) or Federal CCR standard in 2022. These ash ponds were closed in place in 2017, but an assessment on the potential for groundwater contamination led MEC to conclude that the waste from these ponds needed to be consolidated “at an elevation above the 100 year flood stage observed in 2019.” The ash pond waste was moved into a different pond site.

In the most recent groundwater monitoring reports (2023), there were statistically significant increases in five contaminants: boron, chloride, sulfate, pH, and molybdenum. Of these contaminants, only molybdenum (0.1 mg/L) and chloride (250 mg/L) have a federal or state guideline for groundwater protection or drinking water standards.

The recent groundwater monitoring for the monofill showed statistically significant increases in several contaminants, including: calcium, sulfate, and total dissolved solids. Sulfate and boron have been widely linked to coal ash facilities, and because they don’t naturally occur at significant levels outside of manmade sources, they are good indicators of coal ash contamination in groundwater.

George Neal South Coal Plant (Sioux City)

After a spike in concentrations of arsenic in 2019, corrective action measures were triggered in 2020. As part of corrective action measures, 29 more monitoring wells were constructed, bringing the total to 52.

Several other contaminants had statistically significant increases in their concentrations as of the most recent report in 2023, including: boron, chloride, lithium, sulfate, and total dissolved solids (TDS). Of these, lithium and chloride were the only other contaminants that had either a Groundwater Protection Standard (GWPS) or a Drinking Water Standard (DWS) which was exceeded in recent years.

Drinking high levels of chloride in water may dangerously increase the chloride concentrations in the blood. This is known as hyperchloremia. Symptoms of  hyperchloremia include: high blood pressure, fluid retention, and numbness and tingling.

Walter Scott Junior Energy Center, Units 3 and 4 (Council Bluffs)

In the most recent report published in 2023, the two ash ponds had statistically significant increases in several contaminants, including: boron, calcium, chloride, fluoride, pH, sulfate, TDS, cadmium, lead, and molybdenum.

Of these, boron and sulfate were found to have these statistically significant increases in more than 2 of their monitoring wells, with their maximum recorded concentration in the last 6 years all being at the same well.

In the most recent reporting period for the monofill from 2023, there were elevated levels of arsenic and radium. The maximum concentration detected among the monitoring well network surpassed the EPA’s drinking water Maximum Contaminant Level for both contaminants in 2023.

Louisa Coal Plant (Quad Cities)

Elevated levels of radium in recent years. Long-term exposure to radium in drinking water has been linked to increased incidence of cancer.

Although MidAmerican publicly touts a 100% renewable energy vision through media statements and paid advertising using money from customers, the company operates one of the largest coal fleets in the country. A quarter of the utility’s energy generation (25%) still comes from coal, operating five coal-fired plants.

###

The Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University functions as a pro bono law practice handling environmental and community health cases. IEC students engage in litigation and advocacy as part of an interdisciplinary team, which includes students from the schools of law, engineering, arts and sciences, public health, medicine, and occasionally business and architecture.

The Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) is the state's largest and most comprehensive environmental alliance, comprised of diverse organizations and individuals working together to protect Iowa's natural environment. Through education, advocacy and coalition building, the Council raises awareness, generates action, and creates large-scale change. We work on federal, state, and local public policy issues to ensure a just, healthy environment and sustainable future for all Iowans. Learn more at www.iaenvironment.org. 

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

Sierra Club and the Iowa Environmental Council are part of the Clean Up MidAm Coalition, which was launched by a coalition of organizations and concerned Iowans to hold MidAmerican Energy accountable and ask for a public plan to close its Iowa coal plants by 2030. Visit www.CleanUpMidAm.com for more information.