EPA ends 26 year delay on regulating coal power plant wastewater

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Coal sludge impoundment in W.Va.

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This week, the EPA announced "plans to revise the existing standards for water discharges from coal-fired power plants to reduce pollution and better protect America’s water".  The move comes in the wake of a lawsuit brought forward by the Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, and the Enviornmental Integrity Project, which alleges that the EPA has failed for 26 years to set limits on toxic wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants.

In the EPA's press release announcing their plan and commitment to take action, the Agency said, "Wastewater discharged from coal ash ponds, from air pollution control equipment, and other equipment at power plants can contaminate drinking water sources, cause fish and other wildlife to die, and create other detrimental environmental effects".

The lawsuit is not being withdrawn in light of the EPA's recent commitment to revise regulations on power plant wastewater discharges.  Environmental Integrity Project attorney, Jennifer Peterson said that "these rules are nearly 30 years overdue, and we need a deadline for regulation".

The existing federal rules relating to wastewater discharge were written in 1982.  In addition, the EPA's studies of coal power plants over the last 15 years show that they were aware of the discharge of millions of pounds of arsenic, mercury, selenium, and lead each year.  By not setting standards for regulating the discharge of these toxic pollutants, the EPA has allowed utilities to create 584 underregulated coal ash dump sites that can poison local water supplies and contaminate rivers and streams.

The Clean Water Act "requires EPA to complete a review of the federal rules for power plant discharges each year and revise rules to meet the requirements of the Act when appropriate".  The EPAs under Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. have all neglected the Clean Water Act and allowed the situation to escalate to a situation that will undoubtedly now be more costly for utilities and more dangerous to residents.

It was last December's TVA catastrophe that brought national attention to the problem of coal-fired power plant wastewater disposal.  When the EPA began studying the problem earlier this year, they found the number of coal ash dump sites was "almost twice as many as previously identified. The facilities are located in 35 states and concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Midwest and Intermountain West". (ISS)

The EPA has acknowledged that their lack of oversight has allowed power companies to dump potentially harmful amounts of toxic waste into natural environments.  "Current regulations have not kept pace with changes that have occurred in the electric power industry over the last three decades. Air pollution controls installed to remove pollution from smokestacks have made great strides in cleaning the air people breathe, saving lives and reducing respiratory and other illnesses. However, some of the equipment used to clean air emissions does so by 'scrubbing' the boiler exhaust with water, and when the water is not properly managed it sends the pollution to rivers and other waterbodies. Treatment technologies are available to remove these pollutants before they are discharged to waterways, but these systems have been installed at only a fraction of the power plants," the EPA's press release said.

While the EPA moves ahead with revising regulations on coal ash wastewater disposal, some utilities are not cooperating.  Notably, Duke Energy, Progress Energy, and Southern Companies are witholding information regarding their coal ash sump sites claiming that it is confidential business information. 

States with coal ash sites include:  Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

For more info: EPA revamping rules for toxic releases from coal plants; Grist.