Wisconsin Public Service Corporation Proposes Expanding Coal Ash Landfill

Company Says New Air Regulations Means It Can No Longer Recycle Ash

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Above, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation headquarters in Green Bay. Photo: Public Domain.

Clean air regulations are being cited as one of the reasons for the proposed expansion of a coal ash landfill in Marathon County.

The Wisconsin Public Service Corporation is asking the Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Public Service Commission for a $50 million expansion of its 35-acre coal ash landfill in the Marathon County town of Knowlton, according to spokesman Todd Steffen.

“It’s a 22.6-acre expansion, and we’re expecting it could hold up to 4 million cubic yards of ash, and should be about 15 years of service life,” he said.

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Until recently, the company has minimized the need for landfill space by recycling the coal ash into concrete mix. Steffen says in order to meet new clean air regulations, the Weston IV power plant is now producing coal ash that the concrete industry can no longer use.

“Certainly we are meeting those clean air regulations, and with this type of exhaust system on Weston IV, the absorbents that are taking the emissions out of the air have a lot of lime and stuff in it, and therefore no longer meet concrete spec,” he said.

The recycling problem is one of the reasons cited by the environmental group Clean Wisconsin for intervening. General counsel Katie Nekola says she worries that other power companies will also soon be looking for more landfill space.

“If that’s actually the case, then what is that saying about all the coal ash that’s being generated around the state? How many landfills are we looking at here, and should we continue to add that to the cost of burning coal?” she said.

Clean Wisconsin is also questioning the size of proposed Marathon County landfill expansion.

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation hopes to get final approval within six months.