BATAVIA, OHIO (Sept. 24, 2026) - The Clermont County Board of Commissioners today filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 6972, against Commercial Liability Partners, LLC (“CLP”), New Richmond Development Corporation LLC (“NRDC”), Duke Energy Beckjord, LLC, Duke Energy Ohio, Inc. (together, “Duke Energy”), Owlfly, LLC and TBDA Investments, LLC (collectively, “Defendants”) regarding alleged RCRA violations and conditions associated with the handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of coal combustion residual (“CCR”) waste at the former W.C. Beckjord Station in New Richmond, Ohio (the “Beckjord property”).
This lawsuit is the latest effort by Clermont County to protect the County’s public drinking water and to require responsible parties to address conditions alleged to violate RCRA at the Beckjord property. As the Commissioners outlined in their June 1, 2026 Notice of Intent to Sue, [A1.1] the Beckjord property sits adjacent to the Ohio River and upgradient from the Pierce-Union-Batavia Townships (“PUB”) well fields, which provide drinking water to approximately 145,000 Clermont County residents. The former coal-fired power plant generated CCRs as a byproduct, and CCRs were disposed of in and moved between onsite unlined ash ponds. The lawsuit alleges that the Beckjord property and the unlined ash ponds present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and the environment, and are in violation of federal and state law.
The Commissioners’ June 1, 2026 Notice provided Defendants 90 days—the minimum notice period under federal law—to take appropriate remedial action. Because no remedial action was taken during that period, the Commissioners have filed suit against those responsible for the violations and conditions at the Beckjord property.
“We said we would act if the responsible parties did not, and we have kept that promise,” said Clermont County Commissioner David Painter. “The responsibility for addressing conditions at Beckjord—and the cost of remediation—must fall on the parties responsible, not the residents of Clermont County.”