EPA Releases Long-Awaited Coal Ash Rules

Spurred on by numerous spills that have posed a threat to water quality, the EPA released standards for power plants disposing of coal ash on December 19.

“This rule is a pragmatic step forward that protects public health while allowing the industry the time it needs to meet these requirements,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said, per the New York Times.

The new standards will affect such operations as the Duke Energy plant in Eden, NC, which spilled coal ash into the Dan River in February. The spill left 70 miles of the river thick with gray sludge.

"The rules will increase monitoring for leaks and control blowing dust, and require companies to make testing results public. They also set standards for closing waste sites, and require those that are structurally deficient or tainting waterways to close," the Associated Press reported.

It was not just the Dan River spill that prompted these rules. Several crises over the years spurred regulators into action.

"Six years ago, there was a massive spill of coal ash sludge in Tennessee. Three years later, tons of coal ash swept into Lake Michigan," the AP reported. "With each disaster, environmentalists sounded alarms and called for the byproduct of burning coal to be treated as hazardous waste."

But environmentalists had hoped the new regulations would be stricter than they are.

"The rules...put coal ash into the same disposal category as household trash and non-hazardous industrial solid waste, and leave the enforcement largely up to states and local governments," the Huffington Post reported.

"The regulations do not cover sites at shuttered power plants. And in some cases, they would allow existing landfills that do not meet the new standards to continue to operate," the AP reported.

Scott Slesinger of the Natural Resources Defense Council criticized the standards.

"Unlike the majority of environmental standards — which are backstopped by federal enforcement — this rule all but leaves people who live near coal ash dumps to fend for themselves," he said, per the AP.

For more on source water contamination, check out Water Online's Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.