Lansing Smith Generating Plant Ash Pond

Lansing Smith Generating Plant Ash Pond is a coal ash disposal site associated with Lansing Smith Generating Plant, owned and operated by Southern Company subsidiary Gulf Power near Southport, Florida.

Site data
Information below derived from EPA's Coal Ash Survey database; GPS coordinates courtesy of Earthjustice researchers
 * Owner: Gulf Power
 * Parent company: Southern Company
 * Associated coal plant: Lansing Smith Generating Plant
 * Location: Southport, FL
 * GPS coordinates: 30.2687, -85.7009
 * Hazard potential: None
 * Year commissioned: 1965
 * Year(s) expanded:
 * Material(s) stored: Fly ash, Bottom ash, Boiler slag, other
 * Professional Engineer (PE) designed?: No
 * PE constructed?: No
 * PE monitored?: No
 * Significant deficiencies identified: Confidential
 * Corrective measures: Confidential
 * Surface area (acres): Confidential
 * Storage capacity (acre feet): Confidential
 * Unit Height (feet): Confidential
 * Historical releases: None
 * Additional notes:

Coal waste in the United States
A January 2009 study by The New York Times following the enormous TVA coal ash spill found that there are more than 1,300 surface impoundments across the U.S. containing coal waste, with some sites as large as 1,500 acres. Also in January 2009, an Associated Press study found that 156 coal-fired power plants store ash in surface ponds similar to the one that ruptured at Kingston Fossil Plant. The states with the most storage in coal ash in ponds are Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama. The AP's analysis found that in 2005, 721 power plants generating at least 100 MW of electricity produced 95.8 million tons of coal ash, about 20 percent of which - or almost 20 million tons - ended up in surface ponds. The rest of the ash winds up in landfills or is sold for other uses. In June 2009, EPA released its list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal waste sites, which included 12 sites in North Carolina, 9 in Arizona, 6 in Kentucky, 6 in Ohio, and 4 in West Virginia. The full list is available here.

Drinking water contaminated with hexavalent chromium found at pond
A report released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011 stated that there are many health threats associated with a toxic cancer-causing chemical found in coal ash waste called hexavalent chromium. The report specifically cited 29 sites in 17 states where the contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash and included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin. In Florida, the Lansing Smith Generating Plant in Southport was reported as having high levels of chromium seeping into drinking water supplies.

According to EPA data, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was reported at the Lansing coal waste sites above 100 ppb (parts per billion) - 5,000 times the proposed California drinking water goals and above the federal drinking water standard.

As a press release about the report read:


 * Hexavalent chromium first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium. Now new information indicates that the chemical has readily leaked from coal ash sites across the U.S. This is likely the tip of the iceberg because most coal ash dump sites are not adequately monitored.

According to the report, the electric power industry is the leading source of chromium and chromium compounds released into the environment, representing 24 percent of releases by all industries in 2009.

Citizen groups

 * Center for Public Integrity
 * Earthjustice
 * Energy Justice Network
 * Environmental Integrity Project
 * Institute for Southern Studies
 * NRDC
 * Organic Consumers Association
 * Sludge Safety Project
 * Sierra Club
 * Southern Environmental Law Center

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Coal waste
 * Florida and coal
 * Gulf Power
 * Southern Company