Coal ash pond cleanup

The intent of this work is to address the primary source of the known groundwater impacts under the facility (there are no impacts to drinking water supplied to neighboring communities)  in accordance with the environmental regulation in place. The primary source is believed to be the ash ponds – 100% of which is being closed by removal.  

Protecting human health and the environment is vital. The practice of safely transporting ash from NIPSCO's Michigan City Generating Station to the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station has long been in place and is an established part of the company's day-to-day operations.  

The planned IDEM-approved ash pond closures is required by the EPA's CCR Rule. The CCR rule is designed by the EPA to ensure the safe management and disposal of coal ash at coal-fired electric generating stations across the nation. 

Prior to beginning the cleanup work, a dust control management plan was submitted to IDEM for review and comment. The purpose of the dust control plan is to ensure the safe handling and transportation of the material being excavated to facilitate closure of the impoundments.  Comprehensive oversight, inspections and dust control measures will be in place to ensure the work is being conducted safely and in compliance with state and federal requirements. 

Additionally, there are numerous groundwater monitoring points in place today – the data is publicly available on our CCR web site (https://www.nipsco.com/our-company/about-us/our-environment/ccr-rule-compliance) and on IDEM’s web site. Once the impoundments are closed, additional groundwater monitoring and assessment, with IDEM oversight, will determine what additional long-term corrective action and monitoring are appropriate at the site. 

The intent of this work is to address the primary source of the known groundwater impacts in place in accordance with environmental regulatory requirements. The primary source of the impacts is believed to be the ash ponds – 100% of which will soon be closed by removal.  

IDEM has approved the cleanup plan in accordance to the EPA rule as a step toward that goal.  Following the completion of this step and reviewing of groundwater monitoring, the agencies will determine what additional steps may be necessary to ensure the long-term safety of the community and the environment.  

And, while the presence of coal ash material exists across portions of the property - the data collected to date, indicates there is no risk to human health or the environment. There are no impacts to drinking water supplied by neighboring communities. 

At this time, IDEM and EPA have not indicated that additional cleanup work, beyond what is underway, is needed on the Michigan City property.  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and IDEM closely monitor and regulate the entire Michigan City Generating Station – and NIPSCO’s other generating facilities – to determine any actions are necessary to ensure safety of the environment and the community. 

Published in April 2015, the federally mandated Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) rule was specifically designed to ensure the safe disposal of coal ash material from power plants, reduce the risk of catastrophic failure, protect groundwater and ensure energy providers are maintaining proper record keeping and information made available to the public.  

The CCR rule outlines specific requirements and deadlines that NIPSCO must follow, and the company remains on track to meet those commitments.  

Industrial activities at the site began in the late 1800s with mining and removal of dune sand until about 1920 – largely for the process of glass manufacturing. During and after that activity, the property served as a loading and storage area for commodities that were transferred to and from rail cars and lake-going transport vessels, including coal. Other industrial activities included the construction and maintenance of roadways, rail bed and tracks, and the operation and maintenance of heavy industrial equipment.  

NIPSCO acquired the property in 1925, started construction by 1929, and began generating electricity in 1931 – which was the company’s first electric generating station. Facility expansion in the 1930s required the installation of sheet piling along Trail Creek and for Lake Michigan. From the 1930s until the 1960s, filling behind these barriers created “made land.” Portions of the facility were built upon this made land. This type of shoreline expansion was a fairly common practice along the heavily industrialized southern part of Lake Michigan and across many areas of the Great Lakes. 

Assessment activities conducted to date indicate that made land on the north and west sides of the Michigan City Generating Station is composed of native natural material (sand, clay, soil, etc.) mixed with roughly 5 to 18 percent coal combustion residual material. Made land is very common along the shores of Lake Michigan and in many other parts of the country. NIPSCO provides IDEM with groundwater quality monitoring data on a regular basis, in addition to other assessment activities required by IDEM. 

NIPSCO currently operates two remaining coal-fired electric generating facilities – the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield, Ind. and the Michigan City Generating Station, in Michigan City, Ind. NIPSCO plans to retire 100 percent of its remaining coal-fired generation between 2026 and 2028.  

These timelines are ahead of the facilities’ useful end of lives. And, within the last decades, NIPSCO previously retired its coal-fired D.H. Mitchell Generating Station in Gary, Ind. and coal-fired generation at the Bailly Generating Station in Burns Harbor, Ind.

NIPSCO has requested approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) for recovery of the $40 million project cost through its electricity rates, as allowed under Indiana law for federally mandated projects such as this. 

Part of operating a utility system includes complying with federal and state mandates. And, across the industry, including Indiana, energy providers are permitted to recover reasonable costs associated with this work – which NIPSCO has previously followed. 

In an effort to reduce the impact  to our customers, NIPSCO is proposing to spread these costs through 2032. The estimated cost would be approximately $0.30 per month for the average residential customer, beginning in 2023. 

As a regulated energy provider, any changes in customer bills must be reviewed and approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC). Such requests include evidence to support the change and demonstrate how it will benefit customers, and they often include review by a range of consumer groups and stakeholders including the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. Public input is also an important part of the review process. 

While any change in customer bills is meaningful, not all costs are recoverable, and there are times where customers receive credits on their bills – for example, when NIPSCO generates excess electricity, it is sold back onto the grid and 100 percent of those revenues go back to customers. 

There are no impacts to drinking water supplied to neighboring communities.  

Ensuring the safety of the local community and protecting an essential natural resource, such as Lake Michigan, is vital. From a health and environmental safety standpoint, the NIPSCO Michigan City Generating Station property is closely monitored and regulated by the EPA and IDEM. 

While there are some known impacts to groundwater under the facility – which are being addressed in part by this work – the data collected to date indicates there is no risk to human health or the environment, which includes the adjacent Lake Michigan and Trail Creek.  The planned closure work is expected to substantially reduce or eliminate the known groundwater impacts. 

Yes.  The sea wall does not pose an imminent threat;  the walls are performing as they were designed and they remain stable. 

An in-depth condition assessment was conducted to identify an overall rating of the structure, which is based on standard industry definitions and criteria from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Waterfront Facilities Inspection and Assessment, Manual and Reports on Engineering Practice No. 130, June 2015.   

The resulting overall condition assessment rating for this structure continues to be rated as “fair,” a rating which recognizes that all primary structures are rated as “sound”, with some level of deterioration (which is common for all seaway structures over time), but nothing to significantly reduce the structure’s ability to provide shoreline protection. 

The seawall structures were intended to provide armoring for the shoreline along the lake and the creek, and they support the overall operations of the generating station. The walls were never designed to provide an impermeable seal from water and the known groundwater impacts are being addressed by the cleanup work.  

The walls are regularly monitored and inspected both by NIPSCO and third-party professional engineers, and they have been conducted on a more frequent basis than what is suggested by the industry. Meanwhile, regular maintenance and improvements are made to ensure the continued safety of the protective barrier since its installation.