In a major action to address toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered an Ohio utility to stop dumping dangerous coal ash into unlined storage ponds and speed cleanup of the site.
WASHINGTON — In a major action to address toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered an Ohio utility to stop dumping dangerous coal ash into unlined storage ponds and speed cleanup of the site.
"For too long, communities already disproportionately impacted by high levels of pollution have been burdened by improper coal ash disposal,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said Friday. “Today’s action reaffirms that surface impoundments or landfills cannot be closed with coal ash in contact with groundwater.''
The EPA order directs the power plant to stop placing coal ash and other waste streams into an on-site storage pond no later than 135 days after publication in the Federal Register, expected next week. As a practical matter, the plant may have have to pause or even cease operations next year in order to comply with the order.
The order finalized Friday follows through on a proposal issued in January that implements a 2015 rule aimed at reducing groundwater pollution from coal-fired power plants. The Trump administration weakened the Obama-era rule in 2020, allowing utilities to use cheaper technologies and take longer to comply with guidelines that were less stringent than the initial rule.
Lisa Evans, a senior attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, called the Gavin plant “a super-polluter″ and said EPA's action was overdue.
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