By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Environmental Protection Agency announced new steps on Tuesday to force utilities to strengthen safeguards for toxic coal ash pollution from power plants that had been delayed by the Trump administration.
Some utilities store coal ash, a byproduct of coal power plant combustion, which contain cancer-causing carcinogens like arsenic and neurotoxins such as lead and lithium, in unlined pits that can seep into nearby groundwater and harm drinking water supply without proper treatment.
The agency said it will start setting new deadlines for some plants that had asked for extensions to close unlined pits, put others on notice to begin complying with regulations and finalize a federal permitting program for coal ash disposal.
“For too long, communities already disproportionately impacted by high levels of pollution have been burdened by improper coal ash disposal. Today’s actions will help us protect communities and hold facilities accountable,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said.
Coal ash is stored at hundreds of power plants throughout the country. Spills in Tennessee and North Carolina leached sludge containing toxic materials into rivers in those states over the last decade.
A 2019 report https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-coalash/coal-ash-contaminates-groundwater-near-most-u-s-coal-plants-study-idUSKCN1QL0CH by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice found that 241 of 265 coal plants, or 91%, that were subject to EPA monitoring requirement showed unsafe levels of one or more coal ash components in nearby groundwater compared to EPA standards.
The Obama administration’s 2015 coal and wastewater rules had established minimum national standards for the disposal of coal ash, forcing coal plants to shut down unlined pits in 2019 and recycle 100% of their system’s water, according to an EPA rule summary.
The Trump administration in 2020 delayed the deadlines set by the 2015 rule and reducing monitoring and storage requirements to save companies millions of dollars per year in regulatory.
It allowed utilities to continue pouring waste into around 500 unlined coal ash ponds until April 2021 and exempted some facilities from lining their basins with plastic if they meet certain criteria.
Prior to becoming EPA administrator, Regan had run the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality since 2017 and has been part of the push to hold big companies like Duke Energy Corp accountable for pollution.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
