| July 2026 |
By Joyce Blumenshine
Groundwater at the Powerton Pekin coal plant is unsafe. In the past Powerton monitoring revealed health-threatening heavy metals from the large amounts of coal ash at the site. Unlined coal ash ponds at the plant threaten nearby drinking water and waterways as toxic heavy metals leak into the local ecosystem. Levels of groundwater contaminants include the following pollutants that can be risks to public and fish/wildlife health at times higher than safe standards: Arsenic (x21), Molybdenum (x2), Sulfate (x1), Thallium (x2).
Please sit in at one of the sessions below to show Sierra Club is concerned about coal ash contamination!
Midwest Generation LLC, the Powerton Plant owner, will hold two different times for their repeated presentation for correcting groundwater contamination:
Monday, July 6, 2026, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the same presentation will be repeated on
Tuesday, July 7, 2026, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Both sessions are at the Avanti’s Dome, 3401 Griffin Ave., Pekin.
The Powerton coal plant began in 1972 and is located near the Illinois River south of Pekin on Manito Road. The eastern edge of the Mahomet Aquifer is in the area and discharges from the plant go into the Illinois River. For more information on concerns regarding coal ash see the Earth Justice Illinois overview.
