MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — A local environmental group has sued the State of Indiana, alleging that officials have allowed an AES-owned power plant to fill the White River with toxins and threaten the safety of some Hoosiers' drinking water. In a lawsuit filed last week in Morgan County, the Hoosier Environmental Council argued that the State is allowing the Eagle Valley Generating Station to dump untreated wastewater into the White River. The suit says this water is "laden with neurotoxins, carcinogens, and poisons." The facility, a Martinsville power plant owned by AES, allegedly causes this by creating "coal ash waste ponds" near a stretch of the White River's West Fork. This section of the river, the suit says, is upstream from the City of Martinsville's municipal wells and drinking water supply. Coal ash, and why it's an Indiana issue Eagle Valley - originally a coal-fired power plant that opened in 1949 - was decommissioned by AES in 2016 and was turned into a natural gas plant in 2018. The lawsuit claims that over these 70 years, the facility generated "millions of tons of coal combustion waste" - or coal ash. According to the EPA, coal ash waste contains contaminants like arsenic, lead, cobalt, mercury, cadmium and boron. When not properly disposed of, these contaminants can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water and the air. The lawsuit filed against the State argues that the disposal of coal ash was "largely unregulated in the U.S. until 2015." Before then, attorneys argue, the standard practice in Indiana was to mix the coal ash with water and dump it into "large, unlined surface impoundments" or ponds. According to a 2015 EPA study, Indiana has more coal ash ponds than any other state in America. The lawsuit says this is especially true in Martinsville. Coal ash ponds at Eagle Valley (via the HEC) Attorneys say that the ash ponds near Eagle Valley span over 50 acres just west of the power plant and are estimated to contain at least 830 acre-feet of coal ash. These unlined ponds sit next to the West Fork of the White River in the river's floodplain and seep into a nearby shallow sand and gravel groundwater system. The suit says that Eagle Valley's annual groundwater reports "consistently confirm elevated levels of coal ash" that include arsenic, lithium and molybdenum. Two experts quoted in the lawsuit say this threatens the City’s drinking water and poses serious health risks to people who rely on it. Despite these risks, the suit says AES's closure plan for these ponds is "to leave the coal ash sitting in the White River floodplain forever." Closure plans for coal ash ponds Currently, lawyers say AES's corrective measures plan is to "hydraulically control" the movement of contaminated groundwater from entering the White River. This is reportedly done by continuously pumping it back to the plant for use as cooling water. "As AES explains it, Eagle Valley’s high-capacity wells have reversed the groundwater flow away from the river such that the wells are effectively 'capturing' and 'containing' the coal ash contaminants so that they do not reach the river," the lawsuit reads. However, attorneys claim that simply "capturing" the coal ash in production wells does not solve the issue. Rather, the wastewater also needs to be "contained" and properly disposed of after being captured - something AES is not currently required to do. Eagle Valley reportedly has a permit, issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, that does not give any stipulations for managing the captured wastewater. Instead, lawyers say the permit allows them to release the contaminants directly into the White River "without limit." This permit is what has sparked concern among Martinsville residents and caused the Hoosier Environment Council to file its recent lawsuit. The lawsuit The lawsuit was filed last Thursday against the Indiana Office of Administrative Law Proceedings, which recently upheld a 2023 water pollution permit issued to AES by IDEM. The group behind the suit - HEC - is now asking that the permit be revoked. HEC attorneys argue that the plant is in violation of several federal and state clean water laws, as well as a federal rule governing the "proper disposal of coal ash to protect human health and the environment." The group also calls the original IDEM permit "unlawful." The lawsuit argues that, by affirming the permit, "the OALP ignored the law and evidence, disregarded procedural rules, and trampled on the rights of Hoosiers to obtain fair, impartial, and independent administrative review of IDEM’s decisions." To read a full copy of the lawsuit, click here. Moving forward HEC is now asking the Morgan County Court to reverse the OALP's ruling to uphold AES's pollution permit to "ensure that the newly created administrative body is not just a rubber-stamp for state agency decisions." The group now wants the matter sent back to IDEM with instructions that a new permit must fully comply with federal and state water regulation laws. They are also requesting proper closure plans and wastewater management strategies from AES. “We are bringing this legal action to stop AES's contamination of the White River since it wasn't stopped by our state agencies," said Indra Frank with HEC. "We need our state agencies to step in and protect Indiana's land, air, and water now more than ever since the ability of federal EPA to do so is being severely undermined." FOX59/CBS4 has reached out to AES, IDEM and the OALP for statements regarding the lawsuit. We have yet to hear back as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. This article will be updated once a response is sent. ...read more read less