Allegheny Energy Supply Company

The Allegheny Energy Supply Company is a subsidiary of the investor-owned electricity utility Allegheny Energy.

Coal-fired power stations run by AESC are :
 * the Armstrong Power Station at Kittanning, Pennsylvania rated at 356 megawatts
 * Harrison near Haywood, West Virginia rated at 1,983 megawatts
 * Hatfield's Ferry near Masontown, Pennsylvania rated at 1,710 megawatts
 * Pleasants at Willow Island, West Virginia rated at 1,300 megawatts
 * Albright at Albright, West Virginia rated at 292 megawatts
 * Mitchell at Courtney, Pennsylvania rated at 370 megawatts; this is a coal and oil fired plant;
 * Ohio Valley Electric Corp. in Ohio & Indiana which has 78 megawatts of coal fired plant;
 * Willow Island at Willow Island, West Virginia rated at 243 megawatts;
 * Rivesville at Rivesville, West Virginia rated at 142 megawatts;
 * R. Paul Smith at Williamsport, Maryland rated at 116 megawatts.

Study finds dangerous level of hexavalent chromium at Allegheny's Hatfields Station
The study "EPA’s Blind Spot: Hexavalent Chromium in Coal Ash," released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011, reported that the level of hexavalent chromium, a highly potent cancer-causing chemical, at several coal ash sites in Pennsylvania. In all, the study cited 29 sites in 17 states where hexavalent chromium contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash as well as from studies by EarthJustice, the Environmental Integrity Project, and the Sierra Club. It included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin.

According to the report, hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was reported at elevated levels at the following sites:
 * Allegheny Energy's Hatfields Ferry Power Station coal ash landfill at 104 ppb (parts per billion) - 5,200 times the proposed California drinking water goals and 1.04 times above the federal drinking water standard.

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.

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Pennsylvania and coal
 * Allegheny Energy
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming