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What do you think about the Avon Lake coal plant?

EPA officials held a public hearing on Wednesday in Avon Lake

At one time, Avon Lake’s coal power plant was among the dirtiest in the nation. The lack of pollution control even landed it on an EPA watch list.

Today it is run by NRG Energy, which has taken steps to clean it up, while others argue not enough has been done.

Neil Waggoner is with the Sierra Club and concerned about the Lake Erie water that is used to cool off equipment. The plant can pump in up to 427 million gallons of water per day, and pump out up to 389 million gallons.

Waggoner blames that for killing millions of fish, causing algal blooms, and even adding mercury to the drinking water.

“Why are we still continuing to allow that to go into the lake, knowing that we are drinking it and knowing that we are eating it with the fish that we catch out there?” he asked.

Yet state EPA officials say the plant is compliant with their guidelines, which Waggoner believes should be stricter.

MORE | Does the Avon Lake coal plant want to increase its waste?

Part of the reason is that in 2015, the U.S. EPA took a tougher stance on coal, calling on companies to move towards a zero-discharge standard on the ash they released into the environment.

The Avon Lake plant is not there yet.

“They are looking to delay implementation of really critical common-sense regulations to make sure that the water near the lake and what we are putting into the lake is safe and clean,” Waggoner said.

A spokeswoman for the EPA tells Channel 3 News that the facility still has a few more years to meet the new standards, however.

Residents are rightfully concerned.

“If it’s going to contaminate the lake, then I’d rather have it not be here,” said Steve Augustus, who often walks near the plant.

“I wish we could do something else with this,” said Willie Destefanis, who lives nearby. “I have never liked it, but we like the town.”

On Wednesday night, there was a public hearing with EPA officials at the Avon Lake Public Library. You can watch in the player below:

NRG is renewing its discharge permit, which happens every 5 years, and the meetings are a part of that process.

For those who could not attend, Ohio EPA will accept written comments on the permit application through May 2, 2018.

Anyone can submit comments or request to be on a mailing list for information. To comment or receive information about the permit, write to: Ohio EPA-DSW, Permits Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049 or email epa.dswcomments@epa.ohio.gov. The public notice number 17-12-007 should be included on all written comments.

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