Improving land and water quality

Our ongoing investments at our power plants protect the environment and communities we serve.

  • Our major environmental construction projects across our power plants continue as planned and on time to meet our customers’ needs and to ensure our compliance with local, state and federal standards.
  • We operate new CCR treatment facilities and transitioned from wet to dry handling processes and storage of our CCR materials at our coal-fired power plants.
  • We operate state-of-the-art process-water treatment facilities – using physical and chemical-based technologies.
  • We’re in the process of also installing biological treatment systems over the next several years to further treat water before leaving our power plants.

Converting to dry management

We first embraced the idea of dry management of our coal combustion residuals – often referred to as CCRs – in 2008, well before the U.S. EPA’s CCR Rule and Effluent Limitation Guidelines. All of our coal-fired power plants now use dry processing and management processes. When our final dry storage facility at our Trimble County power plant becomes operational in 2022, our full conversion to dry storage across our power plant fleet will be complete.

Protecting our communities’ drinking water

LG&E and KU have a long history of groundwater monitoring that, at some locations, extends back to the early 1980s to help ensure drinking water resources for our communities remain safe. Monitoring is ongoing, and this data is collected from our active and retired coal-fired generating stations and reported to the appropriate regulatory agencies and posted online.

Herrington Lake

We recognize Herrington Lake’s recreational value to Central Kentucky and the qualities that make it a unique habitat for a variety of fish, bird, and other species.  We continue to coordinate with regulatory agencies and community groups to evaluate and monitor the lake’s condition. We’re committed to safeguarding water quality, aesthetics and the recreational use of this beautiful lake.

Closing and capping our CCR impoundments

We’re in the final stages of closing all of our wet CCR storage impoundments. As of April 2021, none of our wet CCR storage impoundments receive sluiced CCR materials for treatment and about 85% are closed. This represents more than 700 acres of former storage space now closed, capped, reclaimed and repurposed as green space or for other operational needs since the program began in 2008. Construction is underway for the remainder of our closure projects, which are expected to be complete by 2024. 

Impoundment Integrity Program

While all of our wet CCR storage impoundments are no longer active storage facilities and the majority are now closed, they – as well as our dry storage facilities, other ponds, dams, and significant infrastructure – are monitored and routinely inspected by our employees, state and federal agencies, and third-party engineering firms. Our program of routine inspections, regular maintenance and preventive maintenance ensures the structural integrity of our facilities remain strong.  

Emergency Action Plans

We maintain emergency action plans for all LG&E and KU dams identified as “high hazard.” This classification does not reflect the dam’s structural integrity, but rather, it’s based on the potential for damage and other risks associated with the unlikely event of a dam failure. Since first developed, these plans have been shared with state and local emergency management personnel and local response agencies, and our coordination with these agencies continues. We are completing the closure processes and retiring all wet CCR storage impoundments, which comprise most of the companies’ dams.

CCR Rule Compliance Data and Information

In our CCR Rule Compliance Data and Information section, you can access a wide range of documents about each of LG&E and KU’s facilities regulated by EPA’s CCR Rule.