CCR Rule Compliance Data and Information

Safety is our top priority. Nothing is more important than protecting our neighbors, employees, customers and the planet we all cherish.

That’s why Consumers Energy is working each day to safely manage the coal combustion residuals (CCR), or coal ash, created at our current and former coal-fired generation plants.

In addition to state regulations, the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulates CCR. In compliance with this law, you can find a wide variety of data related to the operation and maintenance of CCR disposal facilities at our current and former coal-fired power plants on this website.

Federal regulations are designed to protect human health and the environment by establishing a set of requirements for the safe disposal of coal ash. The rule lays out a prescriptive, phased process for monitoring groundwater, identifying and reporting any concerns, and then addressing any issues through corrective action. Michigan recently adopted legislation to strengthen environmental protections by giving the state oversight responsibility to implement federal CCR rules.

We’ve monitored groundwater at our generating sites since the early 1980s, and plan to maintain compliance with both the Michigan and new federal regulations by implementing regulatory mechanisms and measures, such as pond and landfill closures, to improve groundwater quality.

In fact, we are ahead of schedule in implementing corrective measures:

• We’ve initiated plans to close our nine unlined coal ash ponds, and the process is slated for completion by 2023.
• We’ve already closed three ponds and installed concrete tanks and double-lined ponds for safe ash management and beneficial reuse.

We are aligned with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and committed to safe operations and caring for Michigan’s air, land and water today and in the years to come.

BC Cobb, JH Campbell - Richard Houtteman - Richard.Houtteman@cmsenergy.com
DE Karn, JC Weadock, JR Whiting - Madison Clements - Madison.Clements@cmsenergy.com

Information By Location

Consumers Energy has Coal Combustion Residual (CCR) units in the following locations:

JH Campbell
Pond A

Bottom Ash Ponds Units 1-2

Bottom Ash Ponds Unit 3

Dry Ash Landfill

Cell 5

Cell 6

DE Karn
Bottom Ash Pond

Lined Impoundment

JC Weadock
Bottom Ash Pond

Dry Ash Landfill

BC Cobb
Ponds 0-8 (Archive)

Charah Solutions, through its subsidiary Muskegon Environmental Redevelopment Group, LLC (MERG) has taken ownership of the ash ponds to execute the closure by removal of CCR at Consumers Energy’s former B.C. Cobb Generating Facility site. As owner, MERG, LLC will maintain the current RCRA documents on their website at: https://merg-ccrrule.com while Consumers Energy will retain these archive documents as required by RCRA regulation.

Bottom Ash Pond (Archive)

JR Whiting
Ponds 1 and 2

Pond 6