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Federal Judge to Hear Arguments in a Water Pollution Lawsuit Against LG&E

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A case over water pollution from Louisville Gas & Electric’s Mill Creek Power Plant is scheduled for a hearing in federal court in Louisville tomorrow.

Thelawsuit was filed by the Sierra Club and Earthjustice,after the groups collected a year’s worth of footage capturing images of a nearly daily release of polluted water from Mill Creek’s coal ash pond into the Ohio River. The environmental groups alleged that this was a clear violation of LG&E’s permit, which allows an “occasional” discharge. But both LG&E and the Kentucky Division of Water maintain that there are no numerical discharge limits in the permit, and even a daily release wouldn’t be a violation.

In a story last year, I looked deeper at the Sierra Club’s argument. You can read that here.

The environmental groups allege that the discharges had likely been going on for at least five years, and say Google Earth images suggest it could have been happening since 1993.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Louisville.

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the power plant in question.

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