City Water Light and Power is proceeding with plans to stop using its coal ash ponds next October… even though it still not does not have formal approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to wait that long.
Although CWLP is no longer depositing ash from its electric generation units into those ponds, it uses them for lime, a by-product of water treatment. The utility says it has to keep using them until a new lime disposal lagoon is completed in late 2023. But the U.S. EPA issued a proposed order for the ash ponds to be closed earlier than that, and hasn’t yet ruled on an extension.
If that extension is denied, CWLP would have 135 days, or roughly five months, to stop sending material to the ponds. If that happens before the new lagoon is ready, it could disrupt operations of the water treatment plant.
This story has been edited to clarify that the U.S. EPA’s initial timeline for the ash ponds was a proposed order, and a final order has not yet been issued.
