Wyoming Coal Ash Ponds Rank Among Worst in Study
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A report published by environmental groups says Wyoming has two coal-fired power plants that rank high nationally in producing ash that is polluting groundwater with toxins.
The Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice report ranks PacifiCorp's Jim Bridger plant near Rock Springs and its Naughton plant outside Kemmerer third and fourth worst, respectively.
PacifiCorp acknowledged that contaminants have tested at unsafe levels and that remediation is in progress at the Wyoming sites.
But PacifiCorp spokesman Dave Eskelsen says that the utility's power plants cited in the report have at no time posed a hazard to drinking water sources for Wyoming residents.
Eskelsen also notes that the report holds the sites to an unfair water quality standard: the standard for drinking water.