The Problem

The Fayette Coal Plant is one of the largest polluters in Texas.

City of Austin Declares Climate Emergency

Then Does Nothing

The City of Austin owns one-third of the Fayette Coal Plant in La Grange, Texas. This coal plant is one of the largest air polluters in Texas. The Fayette Coal Plant produces coal ash every day. Coal ash is a poisonous sludge that contains arsenic, mercury, lead, and chromium. This poisonous sludge is put in the ground of the Fayette Coal Plant, 48 feet deep, with a thin layer of clay around it. This coal ash seeps into the water table of La Grange. La Grange has twice the cancer rate of the City of Austin. The City of Austin has done nothing to stop more poisonous coal ash from being deposited above La Grange’s water table.

The City of Austin makes $30 million a year profit on its 1/3 ownership of the plant. We hear people say the $30 million that has stopped the City of Austin from taking action.

Map showing the major aquifers of Texas. Improperly lined coal ash pits allow contaminants to leach into our waterways. Image source - Texas Water Development Board

Coal Ash

Coal ash contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and lead.
Without proper management, these contaminants can pollute waterways, ground water, drinking water, and air.
A recent report by the Environmental Integrity Project, an independent research and advocacy group, found that the groundwater around coal-fired plants across the state contain levels of pollutants--arsenic, boron, cobalt, or lithium--that would make it unsafe for human consumption.
The report also found that almost none of the impoundments where plants dispose of spent coal are lined properly to prevent leakage.
Coal ash is buried in 48 feet deep pits and then covered with topsoil. The pits have a thin layer of clay lining. This thin lining allows for high levels of contaminants leaching into the water table.

Fayette County Groundwater

The Texas Water Development Board report found that the groundwater in Fayette County contains the following:

Arsenic – can lead to nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues, urinary tract cancers, lung cancer, and skin cancer. Particularly can impair the brains of developing children (similar to lead)
- If you live near an unlined wet coal ash pond, and you get your drinking water from a well, you may have as much as a 1 in 50 chance of getting cancer from drinking arsenic-contaminated water.
Cobalt – associated with blood disease and thyroid damage
Manganese - studies suggest an association between exposure to manganese in drinking water and neurological issues in infants and children, such as changes in behavior, lower IQ, speech and memory difficulties, and lack of coordination and movement control.
Molybdenum – In animals causes slowed growth, low birth rate, and infertility
Nickel - can become carcinogenic and toxic in high doses
Selenium – causes a host of neurological effects including impaired vision, paralysis, and even death
Sulfate - high sulfate can cause diarrhea and dehydration.

Health Impacts of coal toxicants. Image source - Coal Ash: The toxic threat to our health and environment

Deceiving Lead Levels

Lead levels are no longer tested at the Fayette Coal Plant by the state, LCRA, or the City of Austin
Lead poisoning is difficult to detect in people, and signs and symptoms do not appear until dangerous levels are already reached.
Lead levels at Martin Lake Coal Plan in Tatum, Texas (very similar to Fayette) shows a mean concentration of lead at 82.3 ppb (parts per billion). Safe levels are 15 ppb. Max levels at Martin Lake have been measured at 738 ppb.
Existing official reports all maintain Fayette’s levels at zero. Due to the lack of testing, this information is misleading.
Lead poisoning, even at very small levels in small children, causes significant impairment of mental and physical development and even death.
Children absorb lead four times faster than adults. Lead can severely affect the mental and physical development of children.