Duke to brief public on plans for 9 million tons of coal ash

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Western Indiana residents will get an update next week on Duke Energy's disposal plans for 9 million tons of coal ash stored at a power plant it shuttered last year.

The May 8 briefing in Terre Haute will detail Duke's proposed plans for the coal ash that's stored at its former Wabash River Generating Station about five miles east of the Illinois border.

The Tribune-Star reports (http://bit.ly/2qmSW2f ) Duke plans to remove an estimated 3.6 million tons of ash from two of the site's ash ponds, move that to three other ponds and cap them with a liner.

State environmental officials must approve Duke's disposal plans, which include testing the site's groundwater monitoring wells at least twice a year.

Arsenic, lead and other heavy metals can leach from coal ash pits.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com