BATAVIA, OHIO (June 2, 2026) - The Clermont County Board of Commissioners today served a formal Notice of Intent to Sue under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 6972, on Commercial Liability Partners, LLC (“CLP”), New Richmond Development Corporation LLC (“NRDC”), Duke Energy Beckjord, LLC, Duke Energy Ohio, Inc. (together, “Duke Energy”), and others regarding alleged RCRA violations and conditions associated with the handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of coal combustion residual (“CCR”) waste at the former W.C. Beckjord Station in New Richmond, Ohio (the “Beckjord property”).
The Notice seeks to protect the County’s public drinking water and to require responsible parties to address conditions alleged to violate RCRA. The Beckjord property sits adjacent to the Ohio River and upgradient from the Pierce-Union-Batavia Townships (“PUB”) well fields, which provide drinking water to approximately 145,000 Clermont County residents. The former coal-fired power plant generated CCRs as a byproduct, and CCRs were disposed of in and moved between onsite unlined ash ponds. The Notice alleges that the Beckjord property and the unlined ash ponds present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and the environment.
CCRs can contain contaminants that are carcinogens or neurotoxins, including arsenic, boron, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, lithium, mercury, molybdenum, selenium, and thallium. Exposure to these contaminants has been associated with increased risks of skin, liver, bladder, and lung cancer, as well as neurological, psychiatric, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and other harmful effects. These contaminants can also harm ecosystems, including by contributing to fish kills, wildlife deformities, and damage to wetlands and vegetation.
“We are taking this action today on behalf of the people of Clermont County,” said Clermont County Commissioner David Painter. “It is our responsibility to protect our residents and our County’s public drinking water from conditions that threaten public health, safety, welfare, and the environment.”
According to the Notice, the unlined ash ponds at the Beckjord property allow groundwater to come into direct contact with coal ash in an area where groundwater is understood to flow from the Beckjord property toward the PUB well fields. The unlined ash ponds have no barrier to prevent contaminants from entering the groundwater. The Notice further alleges that only a single interceptor well currently stands between the contaminants and the public drinking water supply, leaving no redundancy if that well fails. The Notice also alleges that CLP’s and NRDC’s proposed closure plans do not comply with applicable federal law.
“While Clermont County maintains rigorous testing and treatment protocols to ensure that drinking water supplied to residents is safe, the responsibility for addressing this contamination—and the cost of any necessary remediation at Beckjord—should fall on the parties responsible for the conditions at issue, not the residents of Clermont County,” Painter continued.
The Notice provides CLP, NRDC, Duke Energy, and others with 90 days—the minimum notice period under federal law—to take appropriate remedial action. If the noticed parties do not take appropriate remedial action during that period, the Commissioners intend to file a federal lawsuit against CLP, NRDC, Duke Energy, and others responsible for the alleged violations and conditions identified in the Notice.