Lithium and selenium don’t evaporate with press releases or promises of “comprehensive” plans. They stay there, slowly seeping into the groundwater, silent witnesses to decades of industrial neglect. Xcel Energy, one of the energy giants in the Midwest, has just announced its ambitious environmental “remediation” plan at the Valmont plant, north of Boulder, Colorado, after official studies confirmed the presence of these metals at levels exceeding the limits established by the EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).
The word “remediation” sounds more like a gesture of nobility than a legal responsibility. But in this case, it’s the latter. Because for decades, the coal ash produced by the plant—yes, in the 21st century, we’re still talking about coal—was dumped in landfills without modern geological barriers, allowing chemical waste to leach and contaminate the groundwater. The result? Private wells with dangerous levels of heavy metals, an altered ecosystem, and a community just beginning to grasp the scale of the problem.
The plan: concrete, pumps, and monitoring
According to Xcel Energy, the plan includes three main phases. First, the “mining” of approximately 85% of the ash for “beneficial reuse,” a fancy way of saying that the ash will now be used to make concrete. Nothing is lost, everything is transformed… except the damage already done.
Then, a groundwater treatment phase using continuous pumping and filtration systems to remove dissolved metals. And finally, environmental control measures during excavation: constant air monitoring to minimize toxic dust and ensure that Valmont residents don’t breathe what they’ve already drunk.
The regulatory agencies—CDPHE, EPA, and Boulder County Public Health—act as institutional guardians of a process that will begin in 2026 and extend for more than a decade. Yes, more than ten years to clean up what was spilled for another decade. And that’s if everything goes “as planned”.
What did they know, and since when?
The question isn’t rhetorical, nor is it new. The Valmont coal-fired power plant closed its production in 2017. But the landfills remain, like an environmental time capsule. Local authorities—particularly the Boulder City Council—have intensified their demands: constant air monitoring, transparency in schedules, and answers about safety safeguards. But these demands are late, as always.
And the community? For now, it can participate in public hearings and comment on the “Assessment of Corrective Measures Report,” a process that sounds more like a bureaucratic procedure than a reparation. But it is what it is. Meanwhile, Boulder residents will continue to wonder if their drinking water is clean… or simply hasn’t been measured yet.
What happened in Boulder isn’t an isolated case. It’s part of a national pattern where coal ash, once celebrated as a symbol of energy progress, now returns as a toxic reminder of an era that refuses to die. In Valmont, Colorado, the price of cheap electricity is being paid by the subsoil. And as is often the case in these cases, time will also pay.
Because cleaning is not the same as healing.
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