{{Short description|Artificial lake in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox body of water | name = Little Blue Run Lake | image = Little Blue Run Dam.jpg | alt = NASA image of Little Blue Run from 2002 | caption = NASA image of Little Blue Run from 2002 | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | coords = {{coord|40|37|32|N|80|30|47|W|type:waterbody_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}} | location = Pennsylvania, West Virginia | group = | lake_type = artificial lake | inflow = | outflow = | catchment = | basin_countries = United States | length = | width = | area = | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = | islands = | islands_category = | cities = <!-- Map --> | pushpin_map = Pennsylvania | pushpin_label_position = Location of the impound on the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. | pushpin_map_alt = Location of the impound on the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. | pushpin_map_caption = <!-- Below --> | website = | reference = }} '''Little Blue Run Lake''' or '''Little Blue Run''' is the largest coal ash impound in the United States.<ref name="Vice news">{{cite web|last=|first=|date=February 19, 2015|title=Toxic Waste Spill in North Carolina: Coal Ash |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-largest-coal-ash-pond-in-the-us-coal-ash-part-2/|work=Vice|access-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> Ohio-based FirstEnergy owns the site, located in Western Pennsylvania and parts of the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, and has disposed of billions of gallons of coal waste into the body of water. Several court cases have been brought against the company as a result of the damage caused by the company's practices at the site.
==Description== The artificial lake was completed in 1975<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"/> and is located in both Beaver County, Pennsylvania and Hancock County, West Virginia and is owned by FirstEnergy, a publicly traded company with assets worth $48 billion in 2010.<ref name="Allentown Morning Call">{{cite web|last=Mountcastle|first=Brooks|date=March 31, 2015|title=Brooks Mountcastle: New coal-ash rule doesn't do enough to protect communities |url=http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-coal-ash-regulations-mountcastle-yv-0401-20150331-story.html|work=The Morning Call|accessdate=April 2, 2015}}</ref> Before Little Blue Run Lake was created, the power company told local residents that the project would create a local recreational and boating area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/10350/1109210-114.stm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109133135/https://old.post-gazette.com/pg/10350/1109210-114.stm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 9, 2020|title=A debate over disposal|website=old.post-gazette.com|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref> The lake covers {{convert|1900|acres}}<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette">{{cite web|last=Hopey|first=Don|date=April 3, 2014|title=Little Blue Run coal ash site to close sooner; Plant owner must contain pollution |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2014/04/04/Coal-ash-site-to-close-sooner/stories/201404040080|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=April 2, 2015}}</ref> and the waste in the lake is prevented from escaping thanks to a {{convert|400|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}}, {{convert|2200|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} rock-and-earth dam.<ref name="Allentown Morning Call"/> The dam containing Little Blue Run Lake has been given a designation of "high hazard", meaning, there would be harm or loss of life if the structure were to fail. Some of the natural valleys in the area were filled with a coal ash slurry and held in place by one of the nation's largest high hazard dams.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_604497.html|title='High hazard' ash basin in Beaver County called safe|last=Bowling|first=Brian|website=TribLIVE.com|language=en-US|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref> Coal slurry from Bruce Mansfield Power Plant in Shippingport was piped into the lake.<ref name="Triblive">{{cite web|last=Bowling|first=Brian|date=February 9, 2015|title= FirstEnergy, Beaver County residents reach agreement in Little Blue Run lawsuit |url=http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7743328-74/reached-firstenergy-lawsuit#ixzz3W9QdQMg0|accessdate=April 2, 2015}}</ref> This same coal slurry is piped into the lake via a seven-mile long pipeline.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A History Of Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems Since 1850|journal = Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association|volume=27|number=10|date=October 1977|page=957|doi=10.1080/00022470.1977.10470518}}</ref>
===Toxic waste and risks=== The lake contains {{convert|20|e9usgal|abbr=off|lk=off}} of coal ash and smokestack scrubber waste.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"/> The northern coast of the lake is only a few hundred meters from the Ohio River, which is the drinking water source for more than three million people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ohioriverfdn.org/education/ohio_river_facts/|title=Ohio River Facts • Education • Ohio River Foundation|website=www.ohioriverfdn.org|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref>
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) estimates that if the dam failed it would affect 50,000 people and has mandated that coal ash cannot be added to the lake after 2016.<ref name="Allentown Morning Call"/> In 2015, Vice News reported that dangerous pollutants were leaking from the body of water into the local community.<ref name="Vice news"/>
The Little Blue Run Coal Ash Impoundment is unlined and has over time leaked pollution into the local ground and surface water, which local families rely on for consumption, cooking, and bathing. Some local residents worry for their health because of this pollution. In addition to the water concerns, families living near the site worry about toxic dust and complain of a strong rotten egg smell from hydrogen sulfide ({{H2S}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=388&tid=67|title=ATSDR - ToxFAQs™: Hydrogen Sulfide / Carbonyl Sulfide|website=www.atsdr.cdc.gov|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref>
==Lawsuits against FirstEnergy== Numerous lawsuits regarding Little Blue Run Lake have been filed against FirstEnergy. In one action, a notice of intent to sue letter was filed by The Environmental Integrity Project and Public Justice on May 30, 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://environmentalintegrity.org/archives/6644|title=Fed Up Local Citizens Notify Nation's Largest Ash Dump of Intent to Sue for Groundwater Contamination, Toxic Discharges that Violate Federal and State Law {{!}} Environmental Integrity Project|website=environmentalintegrity.org|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref> The notice of Intent alleged that toxic pollution and leaks from the Little Blue Run Impoundment violated State and Federal environmental laws. The leaks from the Impoundment allowed boron, manganese, sulfates, arsenic, and other pollutants to discharge into local water sources. On day 59 of a 60 day notice of intent to sue waiting period, the PADEP filed the first ever state lawsuit for a coal ash disposal site. This state action was taken against FirstEnergy because the Little Blue Run Impoundment caused a potential "imminent and substantial endangerment" to human health and the environment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://environmentalintegrity.org/archives/6624|title=Groups Support Decision By PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Requiring Little Blue Run Coal Ash Dump Closure {{!}} Environmental Integrity Project|website=environmentalintegrity.org|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref> Simultaneously the PADEP filed its lawsuit and a consent decree in federal court seeking the closure of the Little Blue Run Coal Ash Impoundment. The consent decree "The consent decree requires First Energy to submit a plan to close the plant by the end of 2016. The company will also have to pay a fine of $800,000, supply 21 households with hook-ups to municipal water systems, and conduct an environmental impact study on the area."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/07/30/dep-orders-shut-down-of-countrys-largest-coal-ash-pond/|title=DEP Orders Shut Down of Country's Largest Coal Ash Pond|newspaper=StateImpact Pennsylvania|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref> FirstEnergy is required to clean up the site by 2031, but in April 2014, FirstEnergy agreed to have the site cleaned by 2028.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"/> FirstEnergy is required to cover the ash with two layers of impermeable "geotextile" sheeting to keep unhealthy chemicals from entering the local groundwater, it must monitor noise, odors and particulate emissions, conduct quarterly reconnaissance of contaminated water seepage from the lake and take corrective actions when necessary.<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"/> According to the PADEP, FirstEnergy is also required to monitor the site "for as long as environmental problems remain at the site."<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"/>
As a result of settling the lawsuit, FirstEnergy began disposing the byproduct (through the process of dewatering) in a lined impoundment at Murray Energy's mine in Marshall County, West Virginia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/powersource/companies/2016/12/01/Bruce-Mansfield-coal-ash-headed-to-West-Virginia/stories/201612010084|title=Bruce Mansfield coal ash headed to West Virginia|last=Litvak|first=Anya|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=December 1, 2016|accessdate=August 18, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldstandard.com/news/business/new-facility-at-bruce-mansfield-power-plant-to-process-coal/article_b3c4acab-9d9d-5e61-becf-bfb93ffb2977.html|title=New facility at Bruce Mansfield power plant to process coal byproduct|last=Taube|first=David|newspaper=Herald-Standard|date=November 8, 2015|accessdate=August 18, 2019}}</ref>
Another lawsuit was filed in Federal Court by 15 Beaver County, Pennsylvania residents and 36 West Virginia residents who accused FirstEnergy of contaminating groundwater and leaking hazardous waste, including arsenic, sulfates, sodium, calcium, magnesium and chloride<ref name="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"/> into local waterways and groundwater systems. The dispute with the Pennsylvania residents, a minority of the parties who claim to have been affected, was settled out of court in February 2015. The terms of the settlement were undisclosed.<ref name="Triblive"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:FirstEnergy Category:Reservoirs in West Virginia Category:Lakes of Pennsylvania Category:Bodies of water of Beaver County, Pennsylvania Category:Artificial lakes of the United States Category:Bodies of water of Hancock County, West Virginia