BATAVIA, Ohio — The Clermont County Board of Commissioners filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 24 against six companies tied to the former W.C. Beckjord power plant in New Richmond, alleging the site’s unlined coal ash ponds threaten the county’s drinking water supply.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, was brought under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. It names Commercial Liability Partners LLC, New Richmond Development Corporation LLC, Duke Energy Beckjord LLC, Duke Energy Ohio Inc., Owlfly LLC and TBDA Investments LLC as defendants, according to the county.
The county said the Beckjord property sits along the Ohio River and upgradient from the well fields serving Pierce, Union and Batavia townships, which supply drinking water to about 145,000 Clermont County residents. The former coal-fired plant generated coal combustion residual waste that was disposed of and moved between unlined ash ponds on the site, the county said.
The lawsuit alleges the property and its ash ponds pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and the environment and violate federal and state law, according to the county.
Commissioners sent the companies a notice of intent to sue on June 1, giving them 90 days — the minimum period required under federal law — to take remedial action. The county said no such action was taken, prompting the lawsuit.
“We said we would act if the responsible parties did not, and we have kept that promise,” Commissioner David Painter said in a statement. “The responsibility for addressing conditions at Beckjord — and the cost of remediation — must fall on the parties responsible, not the residents of Clermont County.”
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Clermont County Board of Commissioners.