Months of reporting into Xcel Energy’s Valmont coal ash site reveals groundwater contamination with scant oversight from Boulder area officials.
Category: Hidden Hazard: Boulder’s Million-Ton Coal Ash Problem
In collaboration with University of Colorado Boulder graduate students, Boulder Reporting Lab spent months analyzing public data to shed light on the groundwater contamination originating from Xcel Energy’s Valmont power plant that fueled much of Boulder’s 20th-century growth. The reporting was supported partly by the Pulitzer Center.
The investigation examined the extent of contamination from the coal ash site to understand potential impacts to human health and Xcel’s plans for cleanup. What’s happening at Valmont is important not only for Boulder residents, but also for the six other communities in Colorado where Xcel has coal ash stored, and for the 42 other states where landfills exist — landfills that, like Valmont’s, are often loosely regulated with little local oversight.
