Public Hearing For Tanners Creek Ash Pond Closure Plan Could Happen Oct. 11

Citizens will be able to comment to IDEM on the closure plan for a Lawrenceburg fly ash pond.

The former Tanners Creek Power Plant site in Lawrenceburg is being redeveloped for potential use as a new Ports of Indiana location on the Ohio River. File photo.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - A public hearing is being planned to accept citizens' comments on a proposal to close a coal fly ash pond in Lawrenceburg.

Eagle Country 99.3 updated you Tuesday about Tanners Creek Development LLC’s revised plan to cap in place the ash pond at the former AEP power plant site. Four of Indiana’s leading environmental groups are opposing the closure plan because they believe the ash pond would continue to pose a threat to groundwater which supplies drinking water for Aurora Utilities and LMS Conservancy.

The fly ash pond closure plan is currently under review by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Part of the process is a public hearing on the closure plan. Barry Sneed, public information for IDEM, says a public informational meeting and public hearing has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, October 11. A time and venue have not been announced.

“It will begin with a public informational meeting to describe activities at the site, detail IDEM’s roles and responsibilities in relation to the facility, and allow time for meeting attendees to engage in a question and answer period on activities proposed at the site,” says Sneed. “After the Q & A, a public hearing will be opened to receive oral and written comments.”

Sneed adds that comments submitted through the public hearing will be answered by IDEM in written form.

No decisions will be made during the public hearing.  

IDEM’s commissioner must sign off on Tanners Creek Development’s closure plan before the company can proceed with capping the ash pond.

Tanners Creek Development and IDEM held a joint public meeting on the company's initial plan to cap and close the fly ash pond on June 5. The October meeting will allow citizens to weigh in on a more detailed plan submitted June 26 by Tanners Creek Development.

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