Environmental groups threaten to sue Talen, call Brunner Island 'a poster child for the public health hazards posed by coal ash dumps'

Aug. 29--The saga of Talen Energy'sBrunner Island power plant in northern York County continues.

The latest development at the plant, which has produced plenty of controversy in recent years, came Wednesday, when four environmental groups said they notified Talen of their intent to file a lawsuit to stop what they called "toxic pollutants" allegedly leaking from the plant's coal ash landfills into the Susquehanna River. The river, the groups said, is a source of drinking water and a popular spot for fishing and boating.

The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project, on behalf of the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, Waterkeeper Alliance and PennEnvironment, said it sent the 49-page notice to Talen's Allentown office at Tower 6. The groups said Talen -- actually based in the The Woodlands, Texas -- and state or federal regulators have 60 days to address the alleged violations in the notice letter, after which they would plan to file a lawsuit aimed at cleaning up the contamination and ensuring future compliance with the federal Clean Water Act and Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law.

"The Brunner Island plant is a poster child for the public health hazards posed by coal ash dumps across the country," Environmental Integrity Project Deputy Director Mary Greene said in a news release. "It is also a compelling example of why power companies need to take responsibility and halt groundwater pollution."

Talen spokeswoman Taryne Williams did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

The environmental groups allege Brunner Island is discharging pollutants including arsenic, boron, sulfate and lithium from unlined coal ash waste ponds and a leaking coal ash landfill into groundwater, the Susquehanna River and a tributary called Black Gut Creek. A sampling of groundwater and surface water around the plant revealed high levels of toxic metals and other pollutants, which could only be explained by leakage from the coal ash dumps, the groups claim.

While the state renewed the plant's water pollution control permit on July 27, the groups said the permit fails to adequately limit discharges from the ash ponds and landfill to groundwater or the river.

For decades, the York Haven power plant, which came online in 1961, operated exclusively as a coal-fired plant. But a multimillion-dollar renovation completed in 2017 upgraded the facility to a co-fire plant, allowing it to burn coal or natural gas.

The plant, which has a generating capacity of 1,411 megawatts, has made headlines before -- earlier this year, in fact.

In February, Talen said it reached a settlement with the Sierra Club -- which was threatening to sue the company -- to significantly reduce its coal usage at Brunner Island in the years ahead and completely eliminate coal operations before 2029.

Then, in March, Talen agreed to pay a $25,000 civil penalty to the state after officials had determined the Brunner Island power plant had caused the death of about 12,000 fish over Dec. 20-21, 2016. The plant, which releases treated water into the Susquehanna River, initiated a shutdown on those days, causing the water temperature in a discharge channel to drop and shock the fish.

jon.harris@mcall.com

610-820-6779

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