DEP Reaches Natural Resource Damage Settlement with Talen Generation, LLC for 2005 Martins Creek Ash Spill
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) have entered into an agreement with Talen Generation, LLC, for the company to pay a total of $952,150.00 for natural resource damages associated with the August 2005 ash spill at the Martins Creek Steam Electric Station in Lower Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County. The fine money will be directed to mussel restoration and dam removal projects in tributaries to the Delaware River.
The spill occurred after a wooden stop log in the Ash Basin No. 4 discharge structure failed, causing an estimated 100 million gallons of ash material to spread across local fields and into the Oughoughton Creek and the Delaware River. DEP, working with PFBC, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), determined that the mussel population in the Delaware River was impacted as a result of both the spill and the cleanup. Mussel restoration and dam removal projects will assist in the restoration and vitality of the mussel populations and improve aquatic habitat and water quality.
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