Citizens Call for a Public Forum to Discuss Possible Pollution in Herrington Lake

Concerned citizens from Garrard, Mercer, and Boyle Counties are urging Kentucky Utilities to hold a public forum to share information the utility has collected about possibly toxic levels of pollutants in Herrington Lake. Drinking water for these 3 counties is drawn from the Lake and reporting over the past couple of years has created worries among residents that their drinking water could be carrying heavy metals and other toxins from the the unlined coal ash pond found at the EW Brown Generating Station. 

In 2017, WFPL News reported evidence of groundwater contamination at 14 Kentucky power plants after conducting its own analysis of the data provided by utilities under the EPA’s 2015 Coal Ash Rule. That analysis found radium levels 33 times federal drinking water standards at Kentucky Utilities’ Ghent Generating Station north of Carrollton. Testing also revealed elevated levels of arsenic, lithium, antimony and beryllium, among other contaminants. Residents are concerned KU's other properties, like EW Brown, may have similar problems. KU has told residents that they have collected some data about pollutants in the Lake, but have yet to fully share that information with the public.

Residents are calling on KU to host a public forum to present their findings and ease the concerns of residents in the area. You can sign the peition HERE and read the language in it below:

"To Paul W. Thompson, chairman, CEO, and president of Kentucky Utilities,

Citizens around Herrington Lake have been concerned for many years that pollution from the E.W. Brown Power Plant was contaminating local drinking water. The undersigned ask that KU holds a public meeting in 2019 to relay the data that has been collected and address concerns in the community by identifying the steps being taken/will be taken to resolve the coal ash pollution issues at the EW Brown Plant on Herrington Lake.

We are afraid that dangerous pollutants, including selenium, arsenic, and boron, are leaching out of the coal ash impoundments at E.W. Brown and into groundwater that flows into Herrington Lake and our drinking water. Testing by the KY Division of Water has found that 9 out of 10 fish collected near the E.W. Brown plant had selenium levels exceeding Kentucky water standards. Please be transparent and ease our fears by hosting a public meeting."