Coal Ash

Coal ash impoundments and landfills carry long-term environmental obligations — groundwater monitoring and treatment, capping and closure requirements, and, in many cases, the physical closure or conversion of an ash pond that’s no longer in active use. ERC provides the remediation and corrective action work coal ash site owners and operators need to manage that obligation.

Our self-performing crews handle groundwater treatment, in-situ remediation, and landfill corrective action directly, working alongside the environmental consultants and engineers who typically manage the regulatory and closure strategy for these sites.

Environmental Challenges at Coal Ash Sites

Groundwater impacts are the most common regulatory driver at coal ash sites — constituents from ash storage can migrate into groundwater over years of operation, and addressing that contamination typically requires a sustained treatment approach rather than a single remediation event.

Ash ponds and impoundments themselves often require formal closure, which can mean capping in place or excavating and relocating ash material, depending on the site’s specific closure plan and regulatory requirements.

Coal ash sites are frequently tied to reservoir, dam, or water infrastructure used in ash management, adding a civil and structural dimension to the environmental work that a standard remediation contractor isn’t always equipped to handle.

How ERC Supports Coal Ash Site Owners

ERC performs contaminated groundwater treatment using pump-and-treat, in-situ, and monitoring-based approaches scoped to a site’s specific closure and compliance plan.

Ash pond and impoundment closures are supported through our landfill corrective action services, including capping, leachate collection, and gas management where applicable.

Where contamination can be addressed without full excavation, our in-situ remediation services treat soil and groundwater in place.

For sites where ash management is tied to a reservoir or dam, our reservoirs, dams, canals, and shoreline service supports closure, removal, or restoration of that infrastructure.

Working From an Approved Closure Plan

Coal ash closure projects are almost always built around a formal, regulator-approved closure plan developed by an environmental consultant or engineering firm. ERC executes the physical construction against that plan directly — capping, groundwater system installation, and site restoration — while the consultant manages the regulatory relationship and reporting.

That division keeps a multi-year closure project moving on the schedule the plan calls for, without the physical construction becoming the bottleneck.

Long-Term Monitoring & Corrective Action Support

Coal ash groundwater obligations frequently extend well beyond initial remediation, requiring years of monitoring and, if conditions change, additional corrective action. ERC supports clients through that full timeline as an ongoing environmental partner, not a single-project vendor, coordinating field work around whatever monitoring schedule the site’s closure plan requires.

If your site has coal ash closure, groundwater, or corrective action requirements, ERC’s environmental remediation team can support your closure plan from initial construction through long-term monitoring. Contact us to discuss your obligations.

We can help with your environmental remediation, ecological restoration, and emergency response needs in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.