INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) today announced its plans to cease burning coal at the local Harding Street coal-fired power plant by 2016, marking an enormous victory for Indianapolis community groups and residents who have led a campaign to protect clean air and public health by urging IPL to phase out coal in Marion County.
IPL’s Harding Street coal-fired power plant was responsible for 88 percent of the toxic industrial pollution released in 2012 in Marion County, according to information released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Harding Street power plant is also the largest source of dangerous soot and sulfur dioxide pollution in Marion County, contributing to Central Indiana’s failing grades for air quality announced earlier this year by the American Lung Association.
