Dearborn Co. Commissioners Ban Out-Of-State Fly Ash, At Least For Filling

The new county ordinance makes an exception for local concrete companies that use fly ash in their mix.

Dearborn County Commissioners passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of out-of-county fly ash for filling purposes on Tuesday, April 3. Photo by Mike Perleberg, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Dearborn County, Ind.) - After taking more time to consider the unintended consequences, Dearborn County Commissioners have voted to restrict out-of-state fly ash from being shipped into the county.

Tanners Creek Development LLC has asked the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for approval to bring fly ash from two coal-fired power plants in Ohio into Lawrenceburg. Arriving by barges on the Ohio River, the toxic substance would be used to complete the filling of an ash landfill at the old Tanners Creek power plant site. That 725-acre tract is being eye for potential development as Indiana’s new inland port.

Local citizens and government leaders have raised concerns about Tanners Creek Development’s plan, citing concerns about the coal ash’s potential affects on the environment and human health. There are worries that coal combustion residuals leaking from any of the already existing ash ponds at the former power plant site could leak into a nearby underground drinking water aquifer, or that coal ash could go airborne while in transport.

Commissioners tabled a proposed ordinance restricting the importation of fly ash at their previous meeting in March over concerns that it may harm other businesses in the county - namely concrete providers who use fly ash in their product.

A revised version of the ordinance was passed by a unanimous vote of county commissioners Tuesday morning.

The approved ordinance is more specific than the first draft. The language added to the ordinance:

“Concrete which has been created utilizing coal ash shall not be considered COAL ASH for the purposes of this Ordinance. FILL MATERIAL means material used to fill in a depression or hole in the ground or create mounds or otherwise artificially change the grade or elevation of real property.”

The ordinance was also changed to focus more on only prohibiting the use of coal ash produced elsewhere as fill material.  

The City of Lawrenceburg’s Common Council rushed to pass a similar fly ash ordinance in March, as the targeted fill site is within the city limits.

On March 15, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued a denial of the “minor modification” to a solid waste land disposal facility permit held by Tanners Creek Development. Had IDEM granted the modification, the company would have been allowed to bring foreign fly ash into Lawrenceburg from out-of-state.

The company may choose to appeal IDEM’s decision, but would have to do so within 18 days of the agency’s letter postmark. That deadline is sometime this week.

View the approved, but unsigned, Dearborn County fly ash ordinance below:

RELATED STORIES:

County Commissioners Table Fly Ash Ordinance; Scientist Says Measure Could Trigger Litigation