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Contaminated Coal Waste
Coal Waste by State, Existing Plants
More than four hundred forty existing coal-fired power plants in 47 states produced over 126 million tons of coal waste in 2005, contaminated by over 91 thousand tons of toxic metals. This table lists totals by state, ranked by total coal waste per state.
| State Name | Rank in Waste | Tons of Waste | Rank in Toxic Metals | Tons of Toxic Metals | Tons of Waste in Ponds | Tons of Waste in Landfills | Tons of Waste On-Site | Tons of Waste Off-Site | Tons of Waste Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1 | 13,454,000 | 1 | 8,915 | 576,810 | 6,490,800 | 148,480 | 1,321,800 | 4,916,110 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 11,057,650 | 4 | 5,639 | 1,076,700 | 2,536,500 | 586,050 | 1,018,000 | 5,840,400 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 8,599,400 | 6 | 4,853 | 2,298,000 | 3,409,900 | 470,400 | 926,900 | 1,494,200 |
| Indiana | 4 | 8,528,650 | 3 | 5,958 | 2,273,450 | 2,820,400 | 675,400 | 849,800 | 1,909,600 |
| Ohio | 5 | 7,836,700 | 2 | 6,594 | 2,667,300 | 899,900 | 1,438,800 | 1,120,800 | 1,709,900 |
| West Virginia | 6 | 6,190,900 | 5 | 4,990 | 896,200 | 3,118,400 | 521,800 | 678,800 | 975,700 |
| Florida | 7 | 5,180,787 | 12 | 3,029 | 74,000 | 1,335,300 | 287,400 | 448,087 | 3,036,000 |
| Illinois | 8 | 4,411,100 | 9 | 3,264 | 747,800 | 8,000 | 102,400 | 1,531,400 | 2,021,500 |
| North Carolina | 9 | 4,008,200 | 10 | 3,243 | 1,344,200 | 607,200 | 860,900 | 250,500 | 945,400 |
| New Mexico | 10 | 3,799,300 | 30 | 870 | 517,100 | 89,300 | 517,700 | 2,056,000 | 619,200 |
| Georgia | 11 | 3,508,910 | 7 | 4,192 | 1,541,900 | 825,610 | 29,400 | 69,100 | 1,042,900 |
| Tennessee | 12 | 3,505,220 | 16 | 2,176 | 632,100 | 732,600 | 287,700 | 235,520 | 1,617,300 |
| Alabama | 13 | 3,200,700 | 11 | 3,175 | 1,810,400 | 903,500 | 104,500 | 107,500 | 274,800 |
| North Dakota | 14 | 3,001,100 | 8 | 3,419 | 334,800 | 1,736,400 | 393,700 | 54,400 | 481,800 |
| New York | 15 | 2,838,410 | 29 | 1,000 | - | 699,990 | 932,000 | 797,560 | 408,860 |
| Arizona | 16 | 2,775,030 | 19 | 1,795 | 387,900 | 1,148,730 | - | 6,500 | 1,231,900 |
| Utah | 17 | 2,366,700 | 17 | 2,027 | 131,000 | 1,475,200 | 495,000 | - | 265,500 |
| Missouri | 18 | 2,332,150 | 14 | 2,469 | 779,150 | 221,700 | 29,800 | 222,300 | 1,079,200 |
| Virginia | 19 | 2,329,200 | 18 | 1,877 | 448,200 | 943,000 | 18,000 | 819,200 | 100,800 |
| Michigan | 20 | 2,129,700 | 13 | 2,524 | 669,200 | 769,500 | 325,600 | 14,500 | 350,900 |
| Wyoming | 21 | 2,106,300 | 23 | 1,306 | 448,100 | 950,400 | - | 193,000 | 514,800 |
| South Carolina | 22 | 2,091,490 | 15 | 2,315 | 301,050 | 377,100 | 88,700 | 111,470 | 1,213,170 |
| Maryland | 23 | 1,932,740 | 20 | 1,594 | 28,100 | 420,300 | 22,240 | 788,600 | 673,500 |
| Louisiana | 24 | 1,629,300 | 31 | 838 | 191,300 | 691,100 | 10,600 | - | 736,300 |
| Colorado | 25 | 1,607,970 | 21 | 1,442 | 5,700 | 655,080 | 49,050 | 735,900 | 162,240 |
| Minnesota | 26 | 1,544,110 | 28 | 1,022 | 813,910 | 420,400 | 133,500 | 9,100 | 167,200 |
| Wisconsin | 27 | 1,480,900 | 22 | 1,406 | 11,000 | 267,700 | 159,200 | 500 | 1,042,500 |
| Oklahoma | 28 | 1,462,300 | 27 | 1,180 | 16,560 | 123,900 | 46,010 | 547,400 | 728,430 |
| Washington | 29 | 1,405,220 | 39 | 279 | - | 424,220 | 103,600 | - | 877,400 |
| Kansas | 30 | 1,386,400 | 25 | 1,253 | 194,300 | 539,200 | 7,800 | 46,800 | 598,300 |
| Mississippi | 31 | 1,308,100 | 26 | 1,196 | 99,100 | 707,000 | 20,600 | 700 | 480,700 |
| Iowa | 32 | 1,228,100 | 24 | 1,284 | 201,700 | 151,600 | 70,400 | 198,900 | 605,500 |
| Montana | 33 | 1,018,900 | 37 | 364 | 963,600 | - | 8,100 | - | 47,200 |
| Maine | 34 | 892,110 | 46 | 20 | - | 858,700 | 400 | 33,010 | - |
| Arkansas | 35 | 784,567 | 32 | 784 | 59,700 | 284,640 | 3,080 | - | 437,147 |
| Nevada | 36 | 771,600 | 36 | 391 | - | 477,200 | 200 | - | 294,200 |
| New Jersey | 37 | 642,300 | 35 | 488 | - | - | 11,300 | 532,700 | 98,300 |
| Nebraska | 38 | 595,000 | 33 | 630 | - | 166,500 | 49,800 | 17,300 | 361,400 |
| Massachusetts | 39 | 384,890 | 34 | 581 | - | - | 42,600 | 209,590 | 132,700 |
| Delaware | 40 | 284,100 | 38 | 316 | - | 149,000 | 22,200 | 112,100 | 800 |
| New Hampshire | 41 | 177,650 | 40 | 210 | - | 2,600 | 28,700 | 90,050 | 56,300 |
| Connecticut | 42 | 172,730 | 41 | 160 | - | - | - | 172,730 | - |
| Oregon | 43 | 99,900 | 42 | 114 | - | 17,500 | - | - | 82,400 |
| South Dakota | 44 | 97,300 | 43 | 0,082 | 000,000 | 0,080,100 | 000,000 | 0,000,000 | 0,017,200 |
| Hawaii | 45 | 51,500 | 44 | 46 | - | - | - | 51,500 | - |
| California | 46 | 50,400 | 45 | 38 | - | - | 50,000 | 400 | - |
| Idaho | 47 | 26,800 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,800 | 0 |
For the Top 100 existing coal plants by tons of waste, click here. To download more data in Excel, including detailed plant-level information for both existing and proposed plants, click here.
Sources: permit applications and news reports for new plants, Energy Information Administration data, NRDC estimates. The most recent data available from the EIA is from 2005 and it is possible that operational changes at particular plants will have changed the yearly waste volumes and disposal methods. Click here for detailed glossary of terms and our methodology.
last revised 3/12/2009
