INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Power & Light’s Harding Street coal-fired power plant was responsible for 88 percent of the toxic industrial pollution released in 2012 in Marion County, according to information released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to EPA’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data, the Harding Street plant released more than 1.6 million pounds of toxic pollutants into the air, land, and water in 2012, posing real public health threats to Indianapolis residents and those upwind and downstream from the plant. EPA’s 2012 Toxic Release Inventory National Data Analysis shows that electric utilities nationwide are the number three source of toxic releases or disposal of toxic chemicals.
Chemicals reported to EPA through the Toxic Release Inventory are those that cause cancer or other chronic and severe human health problems or significant environmental damage, including lead, arsenic and damaging acids. According to the 2012 TRI data, IPL’s Harding Street coal-fired power plant ranked as one of the worst 100 polluters among electric utilities nationwide. Since 2000, IPL’s Harding Street coal-fired power plant has released more than 25 million pounds of toxic pollutants into Marion County’s air, land, and water, according to data submitted to EPA by IPL.
According to EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History On-line (ECHO) database, the plant has also been shown to be in “signification non-compliance” with environmental safeguards at least since 2010. These violations include significant violations of the Clean Air Act for at least 12 quarters in a row, and non-compliance with the Clean Water Act for six quarters in a row. Yet civil penalties of only $9,000 for air quality violations have been assessed.
The Clean Air Task Force has also found that pollution from IPL’s Harding Street coal-fired power plant contributes to an astounding 76 premature deaths, 120 heart attacks, and 1,300 asthma attacks every year.
Information courtesy The Sierra Club.