PIERCE TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Clermont County officials are concerned about the safety of their drinking water and the lack of emergency readiness at the former Walter C. Beckjord power plant site, where billions of tons of leftover coal ash are stored on the Ohio River.

“This is something that should scare the hell out of everybody,” said Pierce Township Trustee Allen Freeman. “That pollution is sitting there right next to your water.”

The WCPO 9 I-Team discovered that one of two interceptor wells meant to protect county drinking water from a migrating sulfate plume has not been operational since 2023.

Provided: Ohio EPA The network of interceptor and groundwater monitoring wells at the former Beckjord coal plant site, as of 2025.

Leftover coal ash is stored in unlined ash ponds in the ri

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