Coal Ash Pond Failure Blamed on Lack of Liner

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has determined that the lack of a pond liner led to the coal ash spill and bluff collapse at a We Energies facility along the shore of Lake Michigan last October 31. The DNR’s report referred to the lack of a liner as a “significant factor” in the power plant’s containment failure. The agency believes the company violated solid waste regulations when it built a pond in and above a coal ash landfill on the site. A $5,000 daily fine may be assessed, and, as the paper reports, it could theoretically be applied retroactively to the pond’s construction three years ago.