On September 25, 2024, Region 3 entered into a Consent Agreement and Final Order with Keystone-Conemaugh Projects, LLC ( KEY-CON) of Blairsville, Pennsylvania, to settle alleged violations of RCRA and the Coal Combustion Residuals ( CCR ) Rule discovered through information submitted by KEY-CON to the EPA. KEY-CON owns and operates the Conemaugh Generating Station, a coal-burning electricity producer located in New Florence, Pennsylvania. The violations occurred from at least October 19, 2015, to December 12, 2023. KEY-CON will pay a $185,927 civil penalty.
The violations in the settlement include: failure to install a groundwater monitoring system that accurately represents the quality of groundwater passing the waste boundary of the CCR unit, failure to monitor all potential contaminant pathways, failure to install a sufficient number of wells to achieve the general performance standard of accurately representing the quality of both background groundwater and groundwater passing the waste boundary of Ash Filter Ponds, failure to adequately document the basis for including the minimum number of wells in the facility?s groundwater system, and failure to monitor after a statistically significant increase (SSI) over background levels was detected for one or more hazardous constituents.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was notified of this action and has not raised any objections. The facility is not located in an area of EJ concern.