EPA Denies Greenidge Generation’s Request To Keep Its Coal Ash Pond Open

Citing Significant Health and Environmental Concerns, Community Members Applaud Decision

DRESDEN, NY- While there has been much in the news recently about Greenidge Generation Holding’s Bitcoin Mining operation on the western shore of Seneca Lake, there has been little discussion about its toxic legacy- the coal ash landfill and pond from its predecessor- until now. The coal ash waste, which is a byproduct of burning coal, has been contaminating Seneca Lake and Keuka Outlet with substances like total dissolved solids, boron, manganese, magnesium, iron, sodium and sulfate that are linked to many negative health impacts.

Greenidge filed an application with EPA last fall to take advantage of a Trump rollback to continue operating its coal ash pond past an April 11, 2021 deadline to cease accepting waste. Greenidge asked for permission to operate the pond until October 2023. 

On Tuesday, however, EPA issued a final decision,  ruling that Greenidge is ineligible for the extension since it is no longer burning coal. EPA will take comment solely on when the cease receipt date for the ash pond should be. A 30-day public comment period will end on February 23, 2022.  EPA is proposing that the facility have 135 days to cease receipt of waste in the pond after the issuance of a final agency decision after the close of the public comment period.

Immediately following EPA’s decision, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos tweeted at the EPA, thanking them, “for acting to protect communities from the dangers of coal ash disposal and address the dirty legacy of our coal-powered past.” Seggos’s thread included mention of the Greenidge facility’s Bitcoin mining operation and the DEC’s commitment to thoroughly evaluate cryptocurrency mining’s emissions and consistency with NY’s climate law.

In searching their coal ash compliance documents, it appears that Greenidge has yet to install a compliant groundwater monitoring system, which should have been in place years ago. Because they don’t have a sufficient monitoring system to alert the EPA to the true extent of the contamination, Greenidge has been able to evade its responsibility to clean up groundwater. While EPA’s decision did not mention this or any other deficiency, these are valid concerns for the health of the community and for Seneca Lake.

 “I am relieved that EPA is not authorizing more delay by Greenidge in the cleaning up and closing its onsite coal ash impoundment.  Delay has been the name of the game for DEC’s regulatory efforts at Greenidge,” said Rachel Treichler, a Hammondsport attorney who has been working with local environmental groups on Greenidge issues. “What we need now is a comprehensive groundwater monitoring program for the entire Torrey aquifer.  We need a detailed hydrogeological study showing groundwater flows under the ash landfill site, the Greenidge site and the Ferro site,” Treichler said.

 “We’re grateful to the EPA for this decision. The people drawing their drinking water near the outflows of the Greenidge/ Lockwood coal ash landfill deserve to feel confident that their water is safe. Coal ash stored in the impoundment pond can leak mercury, arsenic and other harmful substances into groundwater and the lake,” said Joseph Campbell, President of Seneca Lake Guardian.  “A 2019 study from environmental groups showed that almost all of the nation’s existing coal plants with such ash ponds have contaminated surrounding groundwater with unsafe levels of toxins, including a known carcinogen, arsenic, and lithium, which is associated with neurological damage. Identifying these issues and cleaning them up is essential, and we hope that the Department of Environmental Conservation will follow suit by rejecting Greenidge’s inherited coal ash landfill’s SPDES permit as well,” Campbell added.

“EPA sent a strong signal to utilities and state regulators that violating the federal coal ash rule will not be tolerated and that unlined ponds must close,” stated Lisa Evans, an attorney at Earthjustice. “DEC should immediately investigate the coal ash dumps at Greenidge to ensure the company has properly identified the extent of groundwater contamination and to require prompt cleanup, as needed, so that no further harm occurs.”

In its decision, EPA stated that, “According to the information currently available to EPA, Greenidge is not operating a coal-fired generating unit to sell electricity to the grid, but rather operating a natural gas-fired generating unit exclusively to mine for Bitcoin. Consequently, the regulations do not provide Greenidge with the ability to obtain additional time (i.e., beyond the proposed 135 days) to continue to use the unlined CCR surface impoundment….” For other facilities that have submitted a Part A Demonstration, EPA is proposing to establish a process that will allow them to seek additional time where necessary to address demonstrated grid reliability issues. However, in this case, where the facility provides no electricity for the grid, EPA considers there to be no potential for grid reliability issues to arise.”

With a State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPEDES) permit also up for renewal with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Sierra Club, Seneca Lake Guardian and others argue that it is illegal to treat the Lockwood case separately from other environmental permit renewals for operations that jointly contribute to the “repurposing” of the plant for cryptocurrency mining. The groups submitted comments last Friday outlining concerns and violations with State Environmental Quality Review procedure citing the ash landfill’s discharge of excessive levels of toxic substances into the Keuka Outlet and Seneca Lake.