Sierra Club sues LG&E over Mill Creek discharge

• Sierra Club alleges discharges are supposed to be only occasional.
• Kentucky says the power plant's permit does not restrict the frequency of the discharge.

Claiming that LG&E continues to send polluted water into the Ohio River from a coal-ash containment pond in Louisville, the Sierra Club on Wednesday filed suit in U.S. District Court to stop the overflows.

The lawsuit follows up on a notice that the Sierra Club and its legal partner, Earthjustice, sent to the company in March, citing a year's worth of remote-camera photos.

The environmental group, with 4,900 members in Kentucky, alleges LG&E has dumped tainted ash-pond water from its Mill Creek power plant into the river "almost daily," violating a permit that allows only "occasional" discharges.

Claims made in a lawsuit present only one side of a case and do not constitute evidence.

LG&E did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

R. Bruce Scott, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, said state regulators have not found any violation of the company's pollution discharge permit related to discharge frequency.

Scott said the permit "does not restrict the frequency" of the discharges.

LG&E spokeswoman Natasha Collins said LG&E is in compliance with its discharge permits. She described the effluent as "treated water" through "the ash pond settling process."

"The company regularly monitors this water and reports the results" to state regulators, she said. "While we do not comment on the specifics of litigation, LG&E takes its environmental responsibilities seriously."

The lawsuit describes the pond as 43 acres with an average depth of 27 feet, containing ash-sluice water, boiler chemical cleaning waste waters, cooling water and stormwater runoff from a coal pile, a limestone pile and ash treatment basins. It says the water may contain arsenic, mercury, selenium and other toxic substances found in coal-combustion waste.

"The plain meaning of 'occasional' is 'occurring from time to time' or 'irregular; infrequent'," yet LG&E has discharged from the pond "almost daily" since at least May 22, 2009, according to the lawsuit.

"This is not a mere trickle, it's a gushing flow of toxic coal ash pollution directly into the Ohio River," Earthjustice attorney Thom Cmarsaid. "LG&E has tried to hide this contamination for too long, but now we're taking action to keep these dangerous pollutants out of the Ohio River."

The pollution is getting into a drinking water and recreational source for millions of people, the suit alleges.

The Sierra Club and Earthjustice asked the court to order the discharges to stop, assess penalties of up $37,500 per day per violation and cover the Sierra Club's attorney fees.

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 or on Twitter @jbruggers.